Batman Beyond: Goddess of the Earth
by Destron
Summary: Becoming tired of what has become of the Amazon rainforest, Poison Ivy sneaks her way into South America and creates a Plant Bomb, a plant entity that would replenish and restore the Amazon into its former glory.
1. LEVEL 00

**Batman Beyond: Goddess of the Earth**

Batman Beyond characters are trademark of DC, Warner Bros. They include Batman, Bruce Wayne, Terry McGinniss, Poison Ivy and others. I don't own them but then, you can already figure that out. There are and will be characters that I have created specifically for my story so like all fanfic authors, I would like to know if you have any plans to use them.

LEVEL 00

Somewhere in the Amazon Forest, within the borders of Brazil.

55% of the original Amazon rainforest has been destroyed. A combination of industrial advancement, illegal logging, pollution and conflicts has reduced much of the precious forest. It's a very precious commodity man should have made more attempts to take care of. All the politicking and bickering amounted to nothing. They have disappointed her. They have angered her.

Anger. That was all Ramon Fernandez Ruel could sense from the woman he is guiding through the jungle. She would make a comment or mutter about something. Usually it was about the logging, the deforestation and the disappearances of endangered species. Her expressions was of like a mother whose child had died. He could not imagine anyone who could have such great anger.

We are near the research camp you have been looking for, Ma'ame, he told her. He couldn't bear his curiosity any longer, Umm, you don't look like you're a part of their group.

I am not, she replied as she takes off her khaki shirt and pants, revealing a skintight green costume with leaf design as the motif for her torso. Finally, she takes off her safari type hat and lets her long, dark red hair fall, showing her beautiful face. I'm here to help us get back on track.

Ramon stands with mouth agape. He is enraptured by her and he falls to his knees. He is sixty years old and has seen his share of beauties over his lifetime and while she is American, she really shouldn't be any different from any woman. He can't understand why he is feeling what he is feeling now. 

This can't be right, he thought.

As if able to read his mind she assures him, Fear not, Ramon, you will be rewarded for your service and loyalty to me.

***

The research camp is actually a small prefab installation. A small patch of land was cleared and the box-like building airdropped into a bald spot in the forest. A two-story building measuring 8 meters x 10 meters, it serves as a laboratory and sleeping quarters for the six scientists studying the Amazon and its many inhabitant species.

Dr. Miles Abugado yawns as he takes another look at the specimens they collected during the day. He is looking very much forward to seeing his family after his term is over. He's been staying in the prefab for nearly a year. Thoughts of home and family are interrupted by what seemed like an earthquake, however.

All six scientists scurried about in the prefab laboratory; all wondering what in the world was going on. One of them tried to head out the entrance to see what was going on but was instead knocked out by a huge object making its way through.

When the shaking stopped and the dust starting to settle, the scientists huddled together. They are being surrounded by the same object that blocked the entrance. The very object surrounding them, it turns out, were giant vines that were quickly overrunning the lab room. The vines were knocking over all their equipments, computers and specimens all over. Dr. Abugado can't help but feel that all their work has been wasted.

And in the entrance, finally making her appearance is the red-haired woman in the green suit and a local guide.

Who are you?! Are you responsible for this? Do you have any idea how many years of research you have destroyed? Abugado blames her, You have the world to answer to for this!!

She throws some kind of plant pod at him and it suddenly grows into a tangle of leaves and vines, engulfing the poor doctor and binding him.

The world will soon thank me, Doctor!!! she retorted. And then she laughs hysterically.

Dr. Abugado can't help but wonder if she's not just another lunatic out to make a name for herself.

***

Three men were walking through one of Gotham City's more seedier neighborhoods. Desperate times call for desperate survival. Thanks to the Batman, higher profile crimes were no longer becoming profitable. They used to be hired muscle but the Bat had long since put their leader away in prison. They know the Bat doesn't see any difference whether it's big time or small time crime. Still, they hope to get away with whatever loot they could get and those super high-definition TV sets on display at Wang's Multiware appliance store look like they could sell for a couple of thousand.

The biggest man gets his two buddies together to formulate a plan.

We gots to get those stuff. We really could use the money.

No kidding. What took you so long to realize that? said the second weasely man.

Ah, pleaze don't attack me with your sarcasm. We gots to find a way to get those TV sets. If we

Ow, c'mon!!! It's just a store window! We're not robbin' a bank or break into some super duper maximum security place! argued Carper, the smallest of the three, who picks up a brick and throws it into the store's display window.

Carper, don't do it!!!

The brick hits the windows but instead of the glass breaking, a bright flash came as it bounced off.

_WWWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!_

Oh, crap! You never wait for what I'se got to say, don't you? That ain't just glass, it's a standard feature in small store security these days. It's a special fiberglass material that sets off the alarm when you hit it! Big Man tells off Carper.

Damn! Now you tell me. Let's just blow it away!

All three grab their guns and start blasting at the store window. What a piece of brick couldn't do, bullets and laser blasts did the job.

Didn't your mothers tell you not to play with guns? a voice bellowed from above.

The three were surprised to see the Batman soaring in the air and swooping towards them. Big Man might be tougher to deal with so he'll knock him off a while and go for the other two, Batman thought. He sped toward Big Man and rammed him in the midsection. Big Man fell to the ground, a bit dazed but not unconscious. He'll have to get back to him a bit later.

Batman notices some soreness on his arm. Big Man seems to be made of sterner stuff.

What's with you guys? Bionics? Cybernetics? Boy, you guys must be really getting desperate trying to steal low class shop!

Weasely One wants to get this over with and so he shoots his gun everywhere without really aiming. He frantically tries to spot where Batman is. _He was just by the streetlight, he thought, __or was he by the trash can? He just hit Big Man, he was in front of us! How could he disappear?!_

Oh, are you looking for a bullseye? Cuz we're like a couple of neighborhoods away from the nearest gun club. Thought you'd like to know.

The only bullseye I need is that stupid picture on your chest!!! Weasely One screamed and aims for Batman's chest. The Bat was too fast and pushes his gun away and lands one solid fist on his solar plexus. That was all it took and Weasely One is down for the count.

Carper saw what happened and knows he is severely outmatched. He makes a run for it. A batarang circles around his legs and a twine attached to it has bound his feet. He falls to the ground, his jaw making first contact with the pavement. That was all it took.

Ah, this job is getting too easy, said Batman.

Terry! Watch out! You still haven't taken care of the first one!!! a voice screamed into his ear.

A strong blow knocks across his back which throws him about fifteen feet away into the middle of the street. He tries to get up but finds himself shaking. He sees Big Man charging toward him.

I hate cyborgs, he muttered.

A big fist pounds on his face and a right uppercut sends him through the air. Trying to get some leverage, Batman opens up his wings again and charges towards Big Man who, by now, knows what he's trying to do again and uses his momentum against him by evading his charge, then grabbing him and pushing in the direction of the store next door Wang's.

Batman crashes through the window of the clothing store and a whole lot of mess gets made. The siren also wailed in this store. He gets up as soon as he can before Big Man can grab him again.

You know, you really ought to consider joining Robo-Wrestling. You'd really like it there. Lots of big mean guys ready to take someone else's head off. I know there's this someone just like you. He

I was in Robo-Wrestling! You put my manager out of business! You busted my manager for illegal enhancements! Now I'm outta the job! Big Man screamed.

Batman barely avoided the next fist that was going to his head. The wall cracked all over from that one single punch. He tries to get some distance to get some leverage and figure a way to stop Big Man from doing more damage.

Oh, yeah. I think I remember that one.

Don't taunt me you little bastard! I ain't as dumb as I look. I'm going to break every bone in your body! You come down here!!!

A pile of clothes drops on Big Man and some smoke bombs blow up. Batman seizes the advantage by continuously hitting him again and again and again. It was almost beginning to become an exercise in futility. Big Man won't go down.

C'mon! Give in. Dammit. Give in! Batman curses.

Realizing the futility of combating Big Man by hand-to-hand, he retreats back through the haze of smoke. Big Man, slowly recovering his senses, sees Batman standing in a corner. He smiles thinking he's finally getting some payback for the frustrations.

Now you're gonna get it!!! he screams.

He passes through Batman, too late to realize it was only a hologram and crashes through the wall into the next store. While Big Man is disoriented and in a kneeling position, Batman grabs him from behind and tries to work around his big neck, seemingly searching for something.

Suddenly, Big Man freezes, his eyes go wide and finally convulses. He's down.

Now, I remember this one too. A built-in failsafe in every Robo-Wrestler in case you guys go berserk, Batman tells his defeated foe.

The police sirens are blaring. The arrival of Gotham Police too late to do any action but to arrest the perpetrators. Batman has already left. One sergeant curses at their late timing and how Batman has made them look bad again.

In the background, one of the television sets is still functional. The Gotham News Channel is on. A computer generated image of a woman newscaster reading the news:

_ with the Justice League Unlimited heading of to Mars to intercept a strange giant Starfish like creature calling itself Starro. More details on this coming up._

_In international news, what appears to be a giant plant pod covering a very large area of the Amazon forest has sprung up overnight. Covering nearly two hundred meters in diameter, its origin is still undetermined at this time. Brazilian and Peruvian Armed Forces are mobilized to combat this perceived threat but are held back by gigantic vines surrounding the plant pod. US Embassy have offered military advisors to assist the local military on actions to undertake. So far, no word on what those actions are or what they will be. A terrorist group calling itself Poison Ivy has claimed responsibility_


	2. LEVEL 01

LEVEL 01 

Terry looks at his face in the mirror, trying to see just how bad Big Man hit him in the face. No good, his right cheek hurts bad. He can already feel it starting to swell. In a few hours, the bruise will become visible and obvious to all. This is not going to be good.

He's now thinking of how he is going to explain this one to Dana. What about in the morning? How will his mother take this one?

You got careless, someone behind him spoke.

It was Bruce Wayne. Mentor, friend and former Batman. They are in the Batcave.

I'm going to see Dana tonight and I still haven't figured out how to explain this to her. How did you ever get away with this in your day? asked Terry.

I'm rich and I live alone, simply said Bruce. I thought she knows that you usually get into lots of fights.

Yeah but at least I have the Jokerz or some other gang to blame it on and I did promise her that I would stop getting into fights. At least I didn't lose any teeth.

Like I said, you got careless. You better get yourself into more training if you want to survive. I won't be around forever you know.

Gotcha. Look, I gotta get going or I'll be late.

Not so fast! I have a really good feeling we will be getting into something big really soon, Bruce gestures Terry to follow him to the Bat Computer.

When has it ever been only a good feeling to you? remarked Terry.

They head to the Bat Computer, Bruce pushes a few keys and replays the news on TV regarding the situation in Brazil.

So why don't the JLU do something about this? Looks like it's more of their turf, remarked Terry.

The JLU is in a situation of their own. It's up to us to do something about this.

Wait a minute. I've worked long enough with you to know that something more is up. What's your big interest in this? What's with this Poison Ivy gang?

First of all, the media got their story mixed up. There is no group. There is only one person and for the most part of her career, she had worked alone.

So, you know this woman? When was the last time you met up with her? 

Shut up and I'll finish, Bruce pushes some more keys and a picture and profile of his old enemy is put on display on the screen, Her name is Pamela Isley, better known as Poison Ivy. Her MO always involved plants. Her crimes include avenging extinct plant species. She poisoned and nearly killed a friend of mine for authorizing a construction that would have destroyed the last remaining specie of a flower that practically nobody has ever heard about. Sometime partner of Harley Quinn, the Joker's moll. When she died, Ivy moved on with her crusade. She later joined an eco-terrorist group but later splitted ways. I encountered and dealt with her a few more times and she pretty well disappeared.

Hmm, you seem to have a hard time describing what crimes she committed. Other than that thing about your friend.

She's a lunatic who killed, stole and endangered people's lives. That's more than enough reason for me to put her behind bars.

So we're going to Brazil then? Terry asked.

Fortunately, we have an excuse. WayneTech made significant investments in the territory, not least of which we are a major contributor to the research being done in the Amazon. The research station, which is part of it, is where that big pod of a plant is sitting on now, Bruce smirked.

_You have an excuse, I don't, remarked Terry, There's no way my Mom is going to let me go there!_

Don't worry, I'll take care of that.

***

The Fritz. One of Gotham's classier restaurants, more fitting for the romantic types and with deep pockets. Dana was miffed the last time that Terry didn't show up for their last date. He hopes that bringing her here would help him score some much needed points for forgiveness. She's already at their table sitting, waiting for him. The guilt of how he has treated her still lingers in him.

_Whatever she's going to say, whatever's coming, I really deserve it _he thought.

There she is, wearing a beautiful sleeveless black dress and a pouty face. He looks at his watch, closes his eyes and prepares for the worst. _Here goes nothing_.

Oh, here you are Terry. Oh, look. You're only sixteen minutes late. That's a big, big improvement, she said with mock expression.

_Ouch._

Umm, look, I brought you something, he hands her a bouquet of red roses. _Lame, Terry, lame._

Oh, look! You even brought me flowers! continued Dana with mock delight.

Hey! Will you cut it out? I'm really sorry for standing you up the last couple of dates and I really, really do want to make it up to you.

Well, I still can't believe you talked me into giving you another chance. I was just ready to call it three strikes.

Actually, she understands very well that Terry needed his job at Wayne's to support his family. His earnings contribute much to his family's well being. He reminds her of her father who loves his family but also works too much. She shrugs off her thought and hope she's not having a father complex.

What she can't understand is why Wayne has such a strong hold over Terry. One call, one beep, one ring and he's off to his employer with nary an explanation why the rush. She hopes they don't have anything kinky going on. She pushes aside the disgusting thought. She decided that if he does run one more time she is calling it quits.

Hey, Dana, is something wrong? asked a concerned Terry after he took his seat.

Oh, it's nothing. It's nothing, was her reply.

After making their orders, Terry decided that now is really the time to get into a serious talk with Dana. He had bailed out of graduation rites and also on their prom because a villain of the week just had to ruin everything. Being Batman and feeling its drawbacks is beginning to get to him. Now that they're entering college the next school year, they're going to see a lot less of each other. Is that a blessing? No more excuses, no more lying? Or another curse of the Batman? No loved ones to care about?

No! He won't let his life run parallel with Bruce's. He may be the Batman now but he won't live a life of misery as his mentor did. He will

My father wants me to go to Metropolis University, Dana broke the long silence between them; He said it's a much safer city and that there isn't anything in Gotham for me.

Terry is stunned.

I thought you're also going to the University of Gotham. With me, Terry could only utter.

Terry, we hardly see each other any more. Why should you care now? Dana asked. A tear is starting to form in her eye.

Because I choked Terry. It just didn't seem right, care about you. _Damn._

See? That's what I mean. Our relationship can't and Dana finally noticed when she looked at his face. His forehead frowning, a deep concern. His eyes looking streamy like he wants to say something . His mouth, its ends pointing down showing his sadness. His cheeks his right cheek

What the hell happened to you? Did you get into another fight again?! Dana fumed.

_Oh, no! I thought she didn't notice! Terry panicked._

Umm, actually, it was an accident. Some kids were throwing stuff at each other and one of them hit me with a brick.

_Did she buy it? Cross your fingers._

You are such a poor liar. I'll just pretend I never saw that bruise, Dana told him.

_Whew! I'm glad I don't have to deal with this._

Alas, he notices that Dana was really annoyed. What to do? He lied to her again. She's probably thinking this is the last straw. And it's his entire fault.

With great sadness in her eyes, she looks straight into his, Terry, I think we should stop seeing each other.

Is there any way to salvage the situation? He knew it to be his fault. He couldn't let her in on his secret. It was too great and Bruce wouldn't allow it. What is their relationship now? Whatever was left of it, the last couple of weeks did it in. Maybe it's time to make a decision. Maybe it's time he let her go.

_No, I don't want to!_

Dana, please, don't. Not now. I give me another chance. There's a lot of confusing stuff going on in my life right at this time, Terry begged, 

If you're talking about you and your boss, Wayne, I don't think it's amusing.

I just need to fix some things. That's all. Just give me one last chance, that's all I'm asking. Just a chance for me to fix some things. I'm going to be in Brazil for a week. When I come back, I'll sort everything. It'll be okay again. I promise, Terry pleaded.

Brazil? There's some trouble going on in there. Why would you go to Brazil? I don't know what it is but I just heard on the radio...

I'm just going to accompany Bruce, make sure he's all right. He's got some properties there to take care off. That's all. I swear! Terry holds her hand and squeezes tightly.

If I mess up one more time you don't have to see me for the rest of the summer.

Just one more chance. Will it make any difference she wonders? Probably not. Should she say no now or prolong the agony? She still feels something for him. Maybe

***

It's a full moon that night.

Six Brazilian Rangers make their way through the thick creeps. Three squads already disappeared making a reconnaissance of the area surrounding the giant plant pod. If they disappear, the Brazilian Armed Forces will consider the pod a threat and engage in hostile action.

The squad commander hopes this does not have to happen. If there is going to be any action, it would severely affect the forest even more. More trees would have to be chopped down to make way for armored vehicles. His grandfather had told him of a time when the Amazon was much bigger and lush than it is now. He tries to imagine canopies all around. Birds, insects, spiders decorated all around. Now, there is only absolute silence.

He could only sigh at the Amazon's situation. What a shame.

Then he heard a scream.

His pointman is being enveloped by vines and leaves and is being lifted into the air. He tried to use his knife to free himself but the more he struggled the tighter the creeps held on to him. So the squad commander used his laser rifle and shoots at the creeps holding his pointman. He is free at last.

More screams followed. The rest of his men have also been attacked by the creeper vines. It was a hopeless situation. They were trained to expect the unexpected but they weren't trained for this kind of unexpected situation. The squad commander could only helplessly watch his men be buried in the creeper vines.

Now, it was his turn. A vine grabbed his right leg and pulls him up. He is being held upside down. His gear falls out of his pockets and holders. More vines cover his body. He tried to struggle free but they had incredible strength. Soon, he became exhausted and the vines are wrapping around every inch of his body.

Before the vines could completely cover his face see some light coming from under the pod. A beautiful red-haired woman comes out. The vines don't attack her. She makes some hand gestures and they stay away from her.

She inspects the latest catch. She notices him and comes closer. He wonders if she is behind this. He can smell the scent of fresh roses. It seems to be coming from her. She looks into his eyes. Her eyes were like wildfire. She clamps her hand around his jaw.

You hurt my precious darlings. For that, I ought to have them kill you, she tells him, But I have need of your services. Any of this world's so-called heroes are soon coming after me. In fact, I'm expecting a special someone very soon.

She takes out some red powder from her pouch on her belt. Her hand filled with the powder she places it in front of her mouth and she blows in to the squad commander's face. He tried not to breathe in the powder but it was too late.

He felt a burning sensation in his eyes and in his temples. As quick as the pain came in, it was gone. He felt light headed. He can see her face. She looks so beautiful. He feels a wanting in his heart. He is in love.

The creeper vines loosened their hold on him. He falls to the ground. He tries to get up but he sees her again. He bows to her.

In his native tongue, he says to her, I am yours, Goddess!

She looks down on him and smiles at her handiwork. A goddess he said. Maybe she is.


	3. LEVEL 02

LEVEL 02 

_Eight year old Pam comes home from school. Her home is in the third floor of a dingy five-story apartment building in one of __Gotham__'s seedy neighborhoods. She is crying because she's been teased by her classmates again. They shouted that she has the cooties and avoided her like the plague. She had a crush on one of the boys and she was dared by the other girls to kiss him. She took the dare and the boy acted in complete revulsion. She was absolutely humiliated._

_She got into the apartment she lives in. But Mommy isn't home. She's still at work and she won't be home till another couple of hours or so. And Daddy doesn't live here anymore. He's left Mommy a long time ago. Pam is completely alone as she cries in her bedroom. There is no one to comfort her._

_About a half-hour later, she gets up. She looks at the clock and realizes she has to prepare dinner before Mommy gets home. She doesn't feel like cooking but was there any other choice? She looks into the refrigerator. There isn't much. They haven't done their grocery shopping. Mommy had to go to work and she had to go to school. She doesn't want to go to the grocery store. What if one of her classmates saw her?_

_She wonders if the old lady upstairs has some eggplants. Perhaps she could spare some for them. She has never visited her before and decided it too creepy to go up. Besides, she doesn't really know her at all._

_Fifteen minutes pass before Pam finally mustered the courage to go up and ask. The lighting for the stairs going up was broken. The rooftop door was open and what little daylight left was the only thing illuminating the stairway. Because of this, there is a spooky effect to the atmosphere but at least she can see her way around._

_She checks the room number. 503. This is it. She gets ready to knock on the door._

_A few minutes pass and she is still thinking whether she should ask. She finally swallowed and knocked. There was no reply. She waited a minute and knocked again. Still no reply. One last try yielded no result and Pam dropped to the floor sobbing. She took too long and there's no more time to go to the grocery. She blames herself for being a coward. Now, it is getting dark and they won't have anything to eat tonight._

_As she tried to get up, a waft of air from the rooftop breezed its way down. It smelled like flowers. She looks up to the stairs leading to the rooftop. There has to be a lot of flowers if she can smell them down here. She wonders if there's actually a garden of sorts up there. Funny that in her few years of staying there, she had never once gone up to the roof. She stands up and goes up the stairs._

_She comes out the door and sees there is a garden on top of their building. There were flowers of every sort. Roses, carnation, dandelions, orchids, you name it. Still, there was a spooky element to all this. It seemed as if all the flowers were staring in her direction._

_It sure is creepy up here, she said to herself._

_Now why would a garden be so creepy? a voice behind her spoke._

_ Pam screamed._

_Calm down, child, it's just me._

_It was an old woman. Maybe sixty or seventy, a bit stout and looks every bit the part of a grandmother. She was wearing a straw hat and gardener's gloves. She smiles at Pam._

_Not many people visit me up here. What's your name? she asks her._

_M-m-my name is Pamela, Pam stuttered a bit._

_Well, I think I've seen you around before. My name is Maybelle Donner. What brought you up here? the old lady asks her._

_I was wondering if you had some eggplants. We ran out, Pam replied._

_Call me Grandma Belle. I've always liked the sound of that, she goes about looking for some eggplants, I pretty much grow my own food up here. No need of those horrible synthetic stuff they sell at the supermarket._

_Grandma Belle gets a basket and goes about picking some eggplants, tomatoes and a couple of other vegetables. She gave the basket to Pam who became wide-eyed that this old woman would give all this to her. She thought that she should get to know her neighbors more._

_Anytime you need anything, you just come up here, you hear? Grandma Belle tells her._

_Th-thank you. Thank you, Pam said gratefully, I'll bring back the basket when we're done._

_She goes back down to her apartment downstairs. This time, she felt like a great heavy load has been taken off her back. She never knew any of her grandparents, paternal or maternal. She decided that she would visit Grandma Belle again tomorrow._

***

Poison Ivy stands among the lattice-like wood structures now surrounding the giant plant pod. The pod grows ever bigger everyday. Trees that appear to have fused their branches with each other continue to sprout around the pod. Even their roots and trunks have intersected as well.

She makes sure she is hidden among the leaves and branches should anyone try to spot her out and shoot her with a sniper rifle. She uses her binoculars to check out what the Brazilian Army are planning now. They don't seem to be making any progress. They have stopped sending reconnaissance teams after the last six or so have disappeared.

From the distance, she can make out engine exhausts blowing up. She guesses that they might be trying to chop down trees and bulldoze their way here. It doesn't matter she thought. It will still take them days to get through. By then, the pod will have matured and her plan will reach fruition.

***

Mary McGinnis is not an easy woman to convince in cases where any of her two sons would go to some place dangerous. Somehow, Bruce managed to convince her to let Terry go with him to Brazil. He must have told her that the other night he walked the streets alone, he was attacked by hoodlums and Terry saved his life. In the scuffle, Terry got hit in the face, thus, explaining why he has a nasty bruise on his face. Now, Bruce wouldn't want to go some place far without someone he could trust come with him.

At least, that was the story Terry was told. He wonders if there weren't any money involved. _Nah, she can't be that kind of mom._

Terry could only look out the window of the plane they are riding in. His thoughts are only of Dana. Despite his pleas for another chance, she had made up her mind. No more Dana. He never thought it that hard but the future seems more uncertain than ever.

Bruce looks at Terry and knows very well how distracted the young man is. He had suspected of a falling out between the young man and his girlfriend and he used it as leverage to convince Mary McGinnis to let him come with him. The boy is in a confusing time in his life, he told her and that he may need to go some place for a while to sort things out. The need to check into his affairs in Brazil was the perfect opportunity. That and the assurance that they won't be going anywhere near the giant plant pod that was in the news.

Bruce speaks up, Terry, you have to concentrate at the task at hand. We are not in Gotham anymore. This is a literal jungle and you will be out of your element.

I'm sorry Bruce, Terry replied, I'll pay more attention.

US Special Forces will be involved whether the Brazilian government wants it or not. Most, if not all, will NOT tolerate your presence. You will have to be extra careful even with the additional bulletproof coating in your suit, Bruce continued.

Geez, nothing surprises you anymore, are there?

If you have come as far as I did, you'll know.

***

The WayneTech jet landed at Manaus's airport and the country manager of Wayne Tech's Brazil office, Yolanda Covarrubias, personally went to pick them up. She is worried about how much the plant pod crisis could cost her her job. It's not really her fault, she knows that and nobody could blame her but this is the big boss. The slightest displeasure and who knows what could happen? Oh, how hard she fought to get to her position.

She sees them get off the plane and prepares herself. The raven-haired, fair-skinned beauty checks herself with the mirror in her compact. She quickly puts away the compact in her pocket and comes closer to greet her employer.

_Here goes nothing!_

Mr. Wayne! I-it's a pleasure to meet you! she stuttered slightly, I've already prepared everything you have requested, including locating Mr. Diez.

Thank you, Ms. Covarrubias, isn't it? he said back to her. He noted her slight stutter and tells her, There's no need to be nervous. Wasn't your fault. Who would have guessed a madman would want to take over the Amazon?

You're too kind. Thank you, she blushed. She tries to look grateful without seemingly like a bootlicker.

Terry could only look at his mentor smooth talk at the woman. He wonders how Bruce could find the right words at even the worse moments. He thought smooth talk was something he could use with Dana right now.

_No! Concentrate on the task at hand!_

Terry! Hurry up, we have a busy day ahead of us! Bruce called him. He was already at the limo. Terry hurried to catch up.

***

In the hover limo, Yolanda looks at her employer, Bruce Wayne. The man was kind and didn't seem demanding at first. But he is an old man and one thing she knows about old people is that they are hard to please. While he was nice, she felt it was only an act. His demeanor seems to suggest so. She has met too many people to know the different kinds of mannerisms and she didn't get to the top by ignoring these little details. His companion didn't even help him get onboard. He wouldn't let anyone get near him. She's going to have to figure out what makes him tick. Anyway, she didn't get to where she is now by being scared, she did it by knowing how to deal with difficult people.

They finally reach the military camp. There was a huge group of people putting up a rally condemning the government's action to destroy the giant plant pod. The military had to chop down and bulldoze some of the trees to get some more space for the camp. Greenpeace would not take this lightly. There was a lot of smoke and dust.

The hover limo stopped by a bunker. Bruce, Terry and Yolanda got off. Bruce had to get a handkerchief as the dust was irritating him. He noted the presence of a couple of US transport choppers. He wonders how much involvement the US was in on this. They see a Brazilian army officer and an American army general arguing. Bruce could swear he knew the American general from somewhere. They headed in their direction.

I'm having enough flak with the environmentalist groups as it is. Now you tell me that our president approved the entry of your special forces?! the Brazilian officer was bewildered.

I know that this could look bad for you people and while we may seem to be out of our jurisdiction here, the person responsible for this crisis is an American criminal and terrorist, the American general tried to explain, We have our interest in this, yes. But both our leaders have agreed that this situation must be contained as soon as possible.

Excuse me both military officers asked.

Oh, I was just reading your name tag, General, Bruce said to the American, I'm Bruce Wayne, head and owner of WayneTech.

Err, yes, I think I've read about you in my youth. I'm Brigadier General Francis Pebblewyrm the general introduced himself. He was tall and about fifteen years younger than Bruce and certainly more physically fit. If Bruce didn't have to stoop with a cane, he certainly would have s stood eye to eye with the general.

And I'm Col. Ferdinand Paez, the Brazilian took his turn for self introduction. Unlike his American counterpart, he was shorter and had a somewhat unkempt look, probably because he had been out all day and exposed to the heat and dust.

Bruce began, So gentlemen, what have you planned to rescue the hostages?

I have a squad of highly trained men ready to go in. They're the finest soldiers I have and they're trained to expect the unexpected, Pebblewyrm beams proudly as he showed off the team he is sending in.

Paez retorted, I keep telling him that he's just wasting manpower. I've already sent several squads and they all disappeared!

I assume that they had to work their way through the jungle? What about helicopter drop offs?

Every time one goes near within five kilometers from that thing it gets shot down by some kind of spore attack, Paez replied.

And there are no demands?

Paez is perplexed, When this thing started, we didn't even know there was somebody behind this. How much do you know about this Poison Ivy?

Really? If the Brazilians didn't know, how come the rest of the world was the first to know about this Poison Ivy?

I'm sorry but the Gotham News Network was the first to know about this, Pebblewyrm said, It appears they have been given the scoop by the perpetrator. We tried to plug it off in case it was false information feeding public paranoia. Their source turns out to be genuine, of course.

As Bruce, Paez and Pebblewyrm argued on the course of action, Terry milled about the camp. He went in the direction of the US Special Forces squad to size up his would-be opponents. There were six of them. Big, mean and gung-ho about their mission. One of them, a brawny, six-foot five African-American with a shaved head sneered at him.

What're you lookin' at?

Oh, I was just admiring your good looks, Terry tells him sarcastically.

He gave Terry a mean look. His squad commander reprimands him, At ease Sergeant! You hold your temper for the mission!

Yes sir!

Terry takes one last look at the supposed elite squad Pebblewyrm wants to send. He looks around the camp a little more then rejoins Bruce and Yolanda.

***

As was instructed prior to Wayne's coming, Yolanda had prepared all his requests. A warehouse lot about five miles from the military encampment was reserved. The contents of the crates Wayne brought with him turned out to be radio communications equipment and computers and some unrecognizable machine parts. WayneTech Brazil could have easily provided him with the same equipment but he was insistent on bringing his own. Yolanda did not argue. Old people can be like that, she thought. Just give them what they want.

As the computer technicians scurry about to complete the setup of the array of computers, Yolanda checks her watch. It is four o'clock in the afternoon. The technicians were quite fast she thought. With these many units and the job of networking them, they did the job in less than one hour. She hopes that this has impressed Mr. Wayne.

If they're finished, they may go.

The voice surprised her. It almost made her jump. It was Wayne. She wonders how in the world he was able to sneak standing beside her. _Creepy_, she thought.

Of course, sir, she managed to say.

The technicians have started packing when a hovercar had arrived. It opened its door and out comes a fifty-ish looking man. African-Brazilian descent. He had a somewhat rotund figure, and was wearing a loud red shirt with a white floral pattern and a cap. Bruce, Terry and Yolanda come nearer to meet him.

Hey! This place is a warehouse! You mean to tell me this is where I'm going to work? the man voiced out his arrival.

Hello Raffy, Bruce says to him.

The man gives him a quizzical look, Do I know you? I don't believe we've met before.

I have come in to call in that special favor you promised me long ago, Bruce says as he takes some steps back into a shaded portion of the warehouse. The sun was still blazing bright, hitting the warehouse's sliding door. He goes behind the door and faces the man. The shadow cast by the door and the expression on Bruce's face seemed to have generated something to remind the man.

Hey, you- you're I do know you! the man he called Raffy managed to say. He continues, I owe you so much. My family, my life, everything! He was about to kneel down and bow but Bruce wouldn't let him.

I've only come to collect.

Both Terry and Yolanda were surprised at what happened. Yolanda wonders what else there is to this old man she doesn't know. First, he strikes her as a demanding type. Then, when they were at the base camp, he appears to have a pretty good knowledge of military tactics. Plus, he walks around without many noticing. And now, he's got people even this far and whose background would seem so remote, one wonders how they are connected to him.

She was still deep in thought when Bruce calls her, Thank you for welcoming me, Miss Covarrubias. You may go ahead. I will go to the hotel a while later. I will call you or your staff if I need anything else.

Yes, certainly, was all she could say. She curses herself for being jumpy like this. Was Bruce Wayne making her feel more uncomfortable than she thought?

***

Bruce, Terry and Reffy waited for all the people to leave the warehouse. When all have left, they started to get busy. Bruce directs Raffy to be seated by the computers and wait for further instructions. Terry gets ready for his part.

As Terry changes into the Batsuit, he looks out a window and looks into the distance. He breathes with great anticipation for the mission ahead of him. It's a different environment. He has never been in anything like this before. It will be cold, dark and unforgiving. The slightest mistake could cost him his life.

Hmm, maybe it's not so different from _Gotham__ after all._


	4. LEVEL 03

LEVEL 03 

_Ever since Pam met Grandma Belle, she has gone up to the rooftop almost every day. She has enjoyed raising plants and watched them grow. Her mother had brought her to __Gotham__Central Park__ before but she was too little to remember any detail of the park's gardens. But, she thought, Grandma Belle's garden was much better. She had a hand in its continuing creation. This is what she liked best. That and Grandma Belle was great company._

_Aside from gardening, Pam likes to listen to Grandma Belle's stories. She has so many stories from her childhood, the war, her husband and children. They were all interesting and touching. The only stories she doesn't seem to want to tell are how she got into this neighborhood. From what Pam could get from her stories was that her family was rather affluent. Her husband's ancestors held a lot of land shares in __Gotham__. She should be well off and living in a cozy suburban home but for some reason she chose to live in this dingy neighborhood. Pam thought it best not to ask that question now._

_In the meantime, her self-esteem has improved and so has her grades. Some of her bully classmates still tease and victimize her but she doesn't mind them as much anymore. Anyway, if push comes to shove there's always Grandma Belle._

_The old woman also enjoyed the girl's company. Because she had been alone for a very, very long time, it felt refreshing to unload many years worth of loneliness. She sees Pam as her adopted granddaughter. She took it her duty to care and protect her as Pam's mother never ever seems to be around._

_One day, Pam went up to the garden rooftop as usual. This time, though, Grandma Belle is nowhere to be found. She looked at every nook and cranny. She looked if she was behind the rows of pottery. Maybe she's behind the leafy vines? Alas, she can't be found and there really isn't anywhere to hide on the rooftop. Grandma Belle usually doesn't like to go out unless she has to so she thought that the only other place she could be is in her apartment._

_She went down the stairs and, indeed, found the door to Grandma Belle's apartment closed. She hears some kind of moaning sound. She knocks on the door and calls out for her, Grandma! Grandma!_

_She listens and hears something like she's being called to come in. She checks on the doorknob and finds that it is not locked. She has been to her apartment before so she went in. She takes a deep breath, half-expecting Grandma Belle lying in the middle of the living room gasping for air, unconscious or dying._

_Fortunately, there was no such sight to horrify her. She did hear a voice from the bathroom calling to her. She goes in and takes slow steps toward the bathroom. Thoughts of terror are running in her head again. She was only delaying the inevitable she thought. She sees that the bathroom door was ajar._

_Pam calls out with a soft whisper, _

_Pam? Pam? Is that you? Ohhh Grandma Belle cries out._

_Pam slowly pushes the door open and holds her breath at the sight before her. It was not anything terrifying as she had feared but still made her heart beat fast. There was Grandma Belle looking ragged and wearing only a sleeping gown and bathrobe. She was sitting on the toilet and looked as if she went through hell. She looked at Pam and smiled weakly but her feelings were lifted with happiness._

_Oh, Pam, I'm so sorry, she said. There were tears rolling down her eyes._

_Wh-why should you be so sorry? Pam asked. She was very confused. Grandma Belle had not ever done anything wrong to her. Then, her gaze falls to the floor. The white tiles were pockmarked with little red spots. Could it be? Is it... blood?_

_She now notices that the handkerchief Grandma Belle was holding is also tainted with blood. It hits her so fast she starts thinking if she had ever noticed anything from previous days before, even months._

_Ar-are you sick? Pam felt as if there's a lump in her throat when she said that._

_Grandma Belle holds her hand and brings it to her face. Tears continued streaming down her cheeks. She buries her face in her own hands and sobbed. She wailed, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me!_

_This was not making sense. She's sick. What was there to be so sorry about? Pam hugged the old woman and stroked her hand on the old woman's back. This seemed to have soothed her a bit. Pam felt rather awkward at the whole situation._

_It's going to be okay. Whatever it is. This was all she could say and she curses herself for feeling so helpless._

_Later, she helped Grandma Belle get to the bedroom. After making sure the old woman is tucked in her blanket, she decides to get some rest herself. She laid on the sofa but soon found out she couldn't get some sleep of her own. The day's events have got her thinking._

_She got up and started looking around the room. There were some papers and envelopes on the coffee table but they turned out to be bills and junk mail. She feels guilty for snooping around Grandma Belle's apartment. She thinks that it might be best to wait and ask so she just looks at what few pictures there are._

_All the pictures on the wall, even the ones on the coffee table and photo albums were old. Maybe ten or so years old from what she could tell. Grandma Belle did mention that she had grandchildren from her own blood. Also, she had never said that any of her children died, only her husband. Why were there no current pictures and why had none of her relatives ever visited her? So many questions but no answers._

***

At the base camp, Col. Paez is in his trailer having his dinner. Right now, he is angry and frustrated that the Brazilians are looking like a bunch of fools in this affair. Pebblewyrm got what he wanted. His team is now making their way somewhere in the jungle. It's hard to believe that the president would let the Americans humiliate them. The least he could have done was send some of his own men along.

_Damn him._

Angry thoughts still flowed in his head when somebody knocked on his door. Irritation came quickly. He wonders what could go so wrong now.

Come in.

A wiry looking corporal came in. He had a worried look on his face. He fumbled as he almost forgot military protocol. He salutes his colonel. 

Paez has very little patience right now, Speak up! What have you to report?

Uh, sir, some of our men saw something flying in the sky. It was huge. We didn't see it on our radar, the corporal was very nervous.

Maybe it was just some big bird or a bat, Paez said.

Umm, no, sir. It was very big. It just flew over our camp so fast we didn't have time to shoot it. It must be some spirit come to punish us. The men are scared.

Superstitious nonsense! Paez stood up and stormed out of his trailer. The corporal followed him and almost fell on the steps.

Paez sees many of his men scattered about. They are all looking up in the sky and ready to shoot at anything. He also looked up in the night sky and noted the full moon. He wonders if Pebblewyrm had anything to do with what's going on right now. _Damn that man!_

Where the hell is Pebblewyrm? Paez asked.

What in the world is going on, Colonel? What's all this commotion? a voice bellowed from behind him. It was Pebblewyrm.

_I was thinking of asking you those questions!_ Paez thought.

He didn't answer the general's questions. Let him suffer his contempt for him.

Pebblewyrm is fuming, Answer me, dammit!

It was a spirit of the forest come to warn us to keep away, Paez replied, My men said that it flew over the camp.

That's a load of crap! There are no such things as forest spirits.

It was invisible to radar but not to sight.

Pebblewyrm now looks intrigued and then asks, Why didn't you go after it?

My men are too afraid. Perhaps you or your men would like to volunteer?

Bah! Whatever it was is long gone now.

Fuming, Pebblewyrm goes back to his trailer. He mutters something about South Americans being superstitious fools. Paez believes the general is thinking that he's as much a fool as the rest of his own men. That's just fine, Paez thought, at least he wouldn't suspect anything should he gain some upper hand knowledge. Maybe there's still some way to salvage the Brazilian army's reputation.

Sir, what do we do now? his corporal asked.

Paez loses his train of thought, Increase perimeter patrol. Keep an eye out for that thing. If they spot it again, shoot but don't kill it. I want to see the thing for myself.

He takes a cigarette out of his packet and lights it up. He takes a deep puff and slowly exhales. The corporal is still with him and sporting a worried look. A feeling of great irritation quickly wells up in his heart.

I don't care what the men think! Anyone who does not follow my orders gets court-martialed!

Realizing he has little choice, the corporal ran to give out the orders. Paez does not doubt for a moment that they had an infiltrator. He wonders if its from Pebblewyrm's camp. It seems doubtful, though. He's already sent in his own men. If he had other motives, why bother with another group of infiltrators? It could be Poison Ivy calling in for help. Yes, that seems more likely but her file says she works alone. So who else? Is it an interested third party? The only other people with a stake in all this is WayneTech.

_Yes!_

***

The flight over the base camp exhilarated Terry. It seems guilty pleasure but he had to admit it was a kind of rush to see people confused and panicked. Bruce would knock his head over for this. He could have gone invisible, of course. The downside is that he would have used up his battery reserves.

You're about eight kilometers away from the pod. You have better start your descent, Bruce's voice squeaked through the earpieces of his headgear.

Terry cuts down his thrusters. His speed slowly decelerates and his altitude lowers. He looks at the sight below him. It is dark. He whizzes past by all the trees. They all look the same to him. Thoughts run through his mind. How easy it is still to get lost even though he is flying. Gotham has many buildings but all he needs is to find one single familiar landmark and he's on his way. Here, he might have to look for the single tallest tree or look for the nearest river.

The trees' branches seem to get in each other's way. Finding a spot through them is a problem, even if he has night vision. Another problem is landing without getting hit by any stray branch or losing his footing on the way down. _I've had_ _rougher landings before._

As he begins his landing on the canopy, his left foot hits one of the branches. It was just a small slap. He is thankful it was only a small branch or else he would have to contend with a broken leg. He quickly spots an entrance through the canopy. Relieved he need not have to worry after all, Terry dove through the hole. What he got was not what he was expecting.

Branches were everywhere. They were hitting him on all sides. It was a big mistake to swoop down and then fly straight. Realizing this, Terry corrects his error. He cuts down his thrusters and let his wings slowly glide him on the way down. He curses himself. This shouldn't have happened. He's way better than this.

_Not one of my days I guess._

He lands on the jungle floor. He checks himself out for any injuries. There were none. A thought crosses his mind about telling Bruce to make some necessary improvements on the suit. Maybe something that will allow him to hover. It is still using technology made some ten years ago. State-of-the-art then, now he's had enemies better equipped than he is. Then again, Bruce will tell him something like being resourceful and about relying on mind and body over technology.

Now that he has passed through the base camp, he must now contact Bruce. In order to avoid their communication link from being detected, they are using a special ultra-low radio frequency. _That's about as far Bruce would go high-tech for._

Bruce, can you read me?

I read you loud and clear. Try to avoid using our names tonight. We don't want to draw undue attention now, do we? Bruce replied.

Yes sir. So what'll it be? You're Big Daddy Bat and I'm Li'l Bat?

That'll do, I suppose. I'm picking out the heat signature of Pebblewyrm's team. They're about five miles northwest from you. That's not far. I hope your landing didn't cause too much of a commotion.

Terry feels guilty and surprised, So, you, um, knew about that. What gave that away?

I can see your signal whiz unevenly on the map display. That and I heard you cry ouch.

_Ouch. Touché, Bruce._

Alright, I'm on my way.

***

Six men make their way through the jungle. The darkness does not impede them. They are personally handpicked by Gen. Pebblewyrm from the US Army's various Special Forces. 

Lt. Butch Lukic, squad leader and Delta Force; Sgt. Harold Pogue, the brawny black man whom Terry made mad earlier; and the rest, Strathmore, demolitions expert; Madrigal, communications and technical whiz; Caulfield, Green Beret; and Mason, superb marksman. They were the best crack team of military specialists assembled. 

Madrigal receives a transmission from base camp. He signals the others to pause and huddle together. He wipes his mouth, a habit he does when thinking of what to say first. Looking at his teammates, he breaks the news, I just got word from the general. He told us to expect company.

Anyone in particular? asked Lt. Lukic.

They don't know. They just told us to watch out for big black flying thing. Seems like there was a commotion back there.

It must be a small, fast and low-flying plane.

And it evaded their radar.

And if it's a plane, what's it gonna do? Bomb the pod? Spore attack will bring it down sooner, Mason commented.

The lieutenant asks Madrigal another question, What about infrared? Can this thing be tracked by our satellite's infrared system?

Damn. Alright, we are facing a very resourceful opponent. From this point on, proceed with extra caution.

He'll be the one needing all the caution he needs when he meets up with me, Pogue bragged.

The team proceeds onward. A few of them smirk at how Pogue could possibly think there's only one intruder. How does he know? They wonder. Pogue is not ignorant of their thoughts of him. He gives back a deep stare at his teammates. His eyes give that fiery look and a big grin crosses his lips. He looks so evil. Each man begins to think that maybe they shouldn't be thinking what they're thinking of him right now. The man looks like he's ready to kill them.

I just know. I just know he's all alone out there and I can't wait to meet him, he finally said.

Silence passes.

Pogue gets up and marches on. Except for Lt. Lukic, who knew him way before then, all his teammates breathed a sigh of relief. They silently cursed at Pogue for giving them a scare like that.

***

_He's out there somewhere. What's taking him so long?!_

Poison Ivy paces around the laboratory. Her impatience is growing. For sure, Batman will be there again to stop her plans like always. Is there no escaping from him? Must he always foil her plans? A rage builds up inside her and she stops walking. A grimace shows on her face. Her teeth gritting and finally she takes a deep breath.

She exhales slowly. It's not possible. Of course not, it has been about fifteen years since they last squared off with each other. He would be a decrepit old man while she is forever young. How foolish of her to think he would still be able to stop her. His young pup could not stand a chance against her. Oh, yes.

Ramon sees his mistress appear to be angry and irritated and, then, she suddenly laughs off with evil glee. He was roused from his sleep by the noise of her walking around. He had not had much rest and suspects he won't have any more till all is over. He releases a breath of exasperation.

Unable to sleep anymore, he gets up and climbs up the lattice work of vines. The crack of dawn has come. This gives him what little light it could offer. Despite his age, he is still able to climb with relative ease. He smiles at the fact he is able to put the younger soldiers to shame, mind-controlled drones they may be. It was all the satisfaction he was going to get.

Suddenly, a loud crack of noise echoed in the distance. More soldiers making their way through the jungle perhaps? They're the only ones coming anyway. He begins to climb down to tell his mistress. He stopped when he felt her presence behind him. He slowly turns his head around. It's her alright.

He tells her, Ma'am, more soldiers.

Poison Ivy shakes her head no and with an evil grin says, No, not soldiers. It has to be Batman's lapdog come after me. I know it!

If Ramon had a more extensive vocabulary, he would have chosen paranoid to describe Poison Ivy. The longer she proceeded with her plans the more unstable she is becoming. He only hopes that when the proverbial dirt hits the fan, he won't suffer for his involvement. _May the gods have mercy on me_, he thought.

Come. Let us prepare our welcome for him! Poison Ivy tells him as she slides down one of the vines.

Ramon closes his eyes and sighs. He follows her on the way down. He begins to think of what he has to lose for his involvement in all this.


	5. LEVEL 04

LEVEL 04 

_While Grandma Belle is still sick, Pam took it upon herself to take care of the garden for her. What she didn't learn from Grandma she looked it up in gardening and botany books. She is spending so much time taking care of Grandma and the garden that her grades are slipping. Her grades have gone so bad that the school has informed her mother of this._

_"Pam, you're grades are falling. I want you to stop spending so much time at Mrs. Donner's garden," her mother told her. She took a gulp and added, "Maybe even stop spending some time with her."_

_Pam goes wide-eyed and asks her, "But she's sick! Who's going to take care of her?"_

_"Look, Baby, we could hardly scrape up enough savings for ourselves. We can't afford to take care of someone else."_

_"What if she was your mother? My grandmother? Would you still say that?"_

_"Stop that! She's not our relative. She's been sick for what like three months! She's dying!" her mother said._

_A mixed of thoughts and emotions tear through Pam's head. It's true that Grandma Belle's health has deteriorated terribly. One of their neighbors, a former doctor, said it was cancer but he wasn't specific nor was he sure. He was a drunkard. She can't believe her mother picked him of all people to do the checkup. Thoughts of hate are running in her mind. She does not want to hate her own mother. The garden is all that could give her peace of mind and she runs out of their apartment._

_She could hear mother calling her to come back. She ignores her cries and continues running up the stairs. Finally, she passes by Grandma Belle's door. Should she stop and go in? Moments pass before she finally makes her decision. She goes in._

_There were so many things she wanted to say. She felt she had to pour out her problems and Grandma Belle was always a great listener. She'll know what to say. _

_There she is, Grandma Belle in her bed. It looks like she's sleeping soundly. Perhaps it was a bad idea to come in and disturb her after all. Now she's feeling guilty for making Grandma some kind of crutch but that thought quickly flies away when she thinks about how much she couldn't stand her mother much any more. She walks closer to Grandma Belle._

_The closer she got, the more she senses something is wrong. A gut feeling wells up inside her._

_She touches Grandma Belle's hand. Not moving. Cold. Hard. No pulse. The world she knew is over._

_Later, an ambulance comes to pick up Grandma Belle. Pam wanted to go with them but her mother refused to let her. All day the next day, she waited for any news, any call, and any one who would be looking for Grandma Belle. None came. Still, she continued to tend to the garden. She began to wonder what would happen to Grandma's apartment._

_Finally, a couple of weeks later, somebody did come. But it wasn't any relative or friend. They were men in white overalls with the company logo Primo Movers and they directly went upstairs. Their purpose is obvious, who sent them is not._

_"Prob'ly city hall sent them to collect her stuff. Damn the government. Ever'thing goes to them even when you're a goner," one of the neighbors said._

_Pam's heart beat faster. It had to be someone who knew Grandma Belle. She makes her way through the workers and out into the street. A black limo parked a few meters away from the back of the moving truck. From the passenger section, out comes a woman with thick glasses and wearing business attire. It really looks like she's the boss._

_The woman is talking to one of the movers, "Mr. Warner, this is the complete list. I don't want you to miss a thing."_

_Her voice was that with an authoritative tone. Pam guesses she must be the one in charge. She came in a limo so it must be unlikely that she would be from Gotham City Hall. It has to be someone who knows Grandma Belle. It has to be!_

_Excited, Pam goes to her tugs at her jacket. She asks her, "Umm, Miss, do you know Mrs. Donner? I don't think I've seen you before in this neighborhood." Come to think of it, Pam doesn't recall her in any of the pictures she saw._

_The woman is surprised but maintains her posture. She takes a look at Pam and said to her, "No, I don't know her. I've only been sent here to oversee the transport of my employer's familial belongings."_

_"Who's your employer?" Pam continued to pester her._

_"You're a nosy kid," the woman was quickly irritated, "What's it to you?"_

_"Just asking. C'mon, answer my question!"_

_"Donner Realty. Can you now let me get back to work?" She took out some sheets of paper from her bag. "You there! Did you bring the stapling gun?"_

_One of the workers turned to her and replied, "Yes, Ma'am."_

_"Good. Put these on every door." The man dutifully takes the papers and enters the building._

_Pam goes on, "Donner Realty? So is your boss named Mr. Donner? Is he related to Mrs. Donner?"_

_"You don't stop do you?"_

_"She likes plants you know. There's a garden on the rooftop. It belonged to her. Are you going to take it with you?"_

_"Garden? What are you talking about?" she looks into her list and her filofax. She takes out her cell phone and makes a call. After a few seconds she said to the other line, "Hello, Mr. Donner? This is Susan. Umm, a kid here says there's a garden on the rooftop. She said that it was part of the property."_

_A couple of minutes pass as the person on the other end of the phone made his reply. The woman said, "Yes sir. Understood."_

_They looked into each other's eyes. The woman tells her, "No, the garden is not on the list. We're not taking anything there. You can keep it, I guess." She bit her lips at those last words like maybe she shouldn't have said it._

_This made Pam suspicious but there wasn't anything more she could do. She didn't want strangers to be taking Grandma Belle's stuffs. She wanted to demand who this Mr. Donner is. What can a kid do? Oh, well. She thought that at least she will still have the garden._

_The day was almost over when the movers finished packing and loading the truck. The woman finishes checking her list. She was about to go in the limo when she noticed that Pam was still at the entrance's stairs. She takes some second thoughts about going back ahead or to say a few words first. Eventually, she opted for the latter._

_Her eyes go about to different directions like a person with a sin to confess and unsure how to go about it. She finally tells Pam, "Look, umm, I'm sorry. I-it's not my fault. It's not my decision. I'm just like the messenger." Finally, she left._

_That evening, Pam prepared dinner. She's still confused with what the woman said earlier. What was there to be sorry about? The woman was just doing her job. She would not have known about her friendship with Grandma Belle. And what was with the decision and messenger stuff?_

_Her mother comes in. She just arrived from work. She looked beat. She was holding a piece of paper and reading it as she takes off her jacket. Her reaction to what she read was one of shock. She slumped onto the couch and takes a look in Pam's direction. She calls out for her, "Sweetie, come here. Come to Mommy."_

_Pam obeys. Her mother puts her on her lap. They hugged each other tightly. It has been a while since Pam was held by her mother this way. She wonders what's up._

_Her mother softly said to her, "Sweetie, didn't you notice this paper posted on our door earlier?"_

_"Umm, no," she replied._

_"It's okay. I'm not angry. We're going to have to start packing and look for some place else to live. We've got a couple of weeks."_

_"Wh-what's going on?"_

_"You see this letter? It says we're being evicted."_

***

A jolt from his own body awakened Terry from a brief sleep. He had been using the branches of the trees to get from one point to another to cover more ground. He decided for a moment to get a moment's rest as he didn't sleep quite well on the airplane. He didn't realize that soon his eyelids got heavy and he fell asleep. Only his rather unbalanced posture on the tree branch prevented him from a continued slumber.

He curses himself for being careless. _It won't happen again, Bruce_, he swore.

The sky is turning from a midnight black to a dark blue with tinges of red and yellow pushing through. Dawn is coming. It's time to get moving again. But first, some nourishment is required. Terry checks out his rations which consist of energy bars, high calorie meals shaped like candy bars that are standard fare for armies on the quick and go; and a canister of water. Rather piteous considering there are better tasting ready-to-eat meals the US military uses.

_Oh, well. Beggars can't be choosers_ he thought and bit into one bar. It is a bit hard and chewy with a somewhat bland taste. He thinks it's something he's tasted before. That white stuff he ate on occasion when Dana invited him to one of her family's dinners. _Rice, that's it!_

How he wishes he's got something to make this meal more palatable. _Sigh._

_CRRACKKK!!!_

The noise came from behind him. He moved his head to get another bite when he heard it. He looks behind him and sees the deep indentation on the tree's bark he was leaning on. Someone just took a shot at him!!!

Terry springs into action and runs into dense foliage to get some cover. Unless he could find where the shot came from, there isn't much he could do right away. He uses his night vision to see if he could spot the shooter. No such luck. Whoever it is must be doing the same thing as he does right now, hiding.

***

"Dammit! I missed him!" Mason cursed.

"Relax. We'll get him yet," Madrigal tells him.

Pogue asks Mason, "Did you get a good look at him?"

"Well, he was all dark and he had pointy ears. He was eating something. I know the dark can play tricks on you but he kind of looks like an evil creature feeding on the entrails of some poor animal."

"Ugh, gruesome," Strathmore remarked.

"I said it only looked like it. I didn't say that's what it's doing."

"All right, that's enough," Lt. Lukic said, "move out and capture our… prey. It's time to turn the tables on our hunter. We make best use of what little darkness we will have left."

***

The rays of the morning sun have now fully penetrated the sky. The forest's indigenous animals come out to do what is their nature. Yet, there is no sign of the six Special Forces men nor is there of the Batman. It is as if they have disappeared off the face of the earth. A bird nestles on the ground. It pokes about looking for something to eat until it notices one of the bushy plants seem to move forward.

It is Caulfield, acting as the team's point man. He is dressed all over with leaves and branches of the ground layer plants. His cover is so perfect one would have been completely fooled if that one didn't use any special detecting equipment.

"Err, are you hunting for that wascally wabbit?" a voice from above said.

Caulfield was surprised somebody saw through his cover. With the charade over, he gets up and dares his opponent, "Come out you coward!!!"

He was about to start to fire his laser rifle when an invisible right hook met his face. It was soon followed by a left uppercut which brought his feet off the ground by a few inches. He is quickly brought down. If someone could see the Batman now, he's standing over the unconscious Caulfield and wearing a smile.

Bursts of pulse rifle projectiles and bullets are flying all over the place. The Batman quickly takes cover. He quickly chooses the tree with the biggest trunk. The barrage quickly tears down the leaves and vines that adorn the forest. Small, younger trees are easily felled. He has to think of something fast. The enemy's armament is wearing down his cover. He hears them running out of ammunition and makes his move.

Mason also makes his own move. As soon as his teammates stopped their rain of fire, it was a sure bet their foe would run. He sees the rustling of leaves and broken branches and fires several shots from his sniper rifle in its direction. They all heard a cry of pain.

***

Terry uses his suit's boosters to get some distance from Lukic's men. Only when he thought it's far enough did he stop. One of them managed to hit him in his right thigh and now he can't help but limp. Even though he had some Kevlar protection even on his legs, it still feels like his leg has gone through a meat tenderizer. And to think he used up a good amount of power for invisibility. That guy he brought down will soon be back on his feet. What a waste.

He checks his utility belt for anything he could use. And suddenly, "Come out, come out wherever you are!" he can hear the one called Pogue crying.

_Much obliged!_

***

Strathmore takes his turn as point man. Fire should draw him out, he thought. He takes a grenade launcher from his backpack and arms it. He surveys the area before him. He aims the launcher in the direction Mason saw the rustling. As he is about to pull the trigger, smoke pops out all over the place. He can feel his eyes welling with tears. He reaches for his gasmask but a dark figure before him punches him in the nose.

The Batman is back.

"Look! I told you he's just a man!" Mason cried out to his teammates.

"My, my, you got a good eye for details," Batman remarked.

Mason's face turns red and says to him, "That's not funny!" and brings out his sniper rifle to aim.

Batman throws a couple of round objects at him. Upon touching the ground, they exploded and released more gas. This time, it's sleeping gas. Mason and Madrigal were too late to put on their masks. They fall down to the ground. _Three down, three to go._

"Why, if it isn't the Batman, aren't you a long way off Gotham?" Lukic said. His voice is muffled by his mask. He pulls up his laser rifle and takes aim. There is a laser targeting unit installed on the rifle and the red dot lands on Batman's chest. A batarang breaks his aim and his shot is wasted. Another batarang hits him on the forehead.

As Batman looks for his next opponent, somebody puts a slipper hold on him. It's Pogue. Batman tries to use his enhanced strength to break free but to no avail. The way Pogue is holding his head; he's trying to break his neck. This man is strong!

"Wh-what are y-you?" Batman asks him, "Some kind of freak?" His suit is the only thing keeping him from a quick death.

"Am 100 per cent natural, no splicing, no cybernetic enhancements," Pogue said to him and he does so with an evil grin.

Caulfield comes nearer with a pistol in hand. He said to the Batman, "Give it up, boy." This enraged Batman and with a swift kick from his left foot, takes Caulfield's mask off. The sleeping gas still drifts in the air. He tried not to inhale it but a follow up kick forced the breath out of him.

This made Pogue tighten his squeeze on Batman. He's now doing two things to Batman. He's either going to break his neck or make him take a taste of his own gas. It's only a matter of time now. Batman's own mask gives him limited protection, his mouthpiece is not covered. Pogue feels him starting to weaken. "Yeah, give in."

Then there is a feeling of wetness on his left arm followed by searing pain. Is his arm on fire he wonders? Eventually, he couldn't stand any longer and let Batman go. "What the hell did you do to me?!!" His arm had red wells over it and had a bit of smoke coming off it. He looked at Batman whose left collar and shoulder was also smoldering. Acid? Acid pellets?

Despite his limp, Batman ran as far as he could. Pogue was harder to beat. He needs some time to figure out how to knock him out. The man was amazingly strong. Right now, his body feels woozy and he feels nausea coming. He had a gulp of the tear gas/sleeping gas combo and his heart is racing with adrenaline. He vomits. A rage is building up inside of him.

***

Pogue thought about going after the Batman but decided better. He tended to his teammates well-being. They were all pretty amazed to find a single man could practically beat them. Still, they were confident that victory would be theirs. They still have that one huge advantage: they're a team.

Wiping his bleeding forehead, Lt. Lukic is thinking of their next strategy. They have underestimated their prey. Instead of going for a one on one with each of his team members, Batman used weapons that would enable him to keep his distance. However, he is not their target. Not their primary concern. The sooner they could swat him out, the sooner they could get back to their mission.

"He can't possibly go far. I noticed that he was limpin' his way outta here. I say we bombard him with mortar," Pogue said to the lieutenant.

Lukic looked at his old friend, and then at the giant plant pod, which is only a few hundred meters from them. He takes a deep breath. While looking at the ground, he said, "I'm not so sure that's going to be a great idea. You say he's headed toward that thing. If we do that, we might hit that… thing. We don't have any idea how it would react."

"If we let him live, he'll get in the way later. We gotta wax him."

"Yeah, Lieutenant, we're going to destroy the thing anyway," Strathmore came around at last. He's eager to get some payback.

"No! We can't risk it."

"All right! I've heard enough! You want a piece of me? I'm still here," a voice bellowed. It was Batman again and this time he's standing on a tree branch.

Pogue shouts back at him, "What you gonna do? Use more of them gas on us? Come down here and fight like a man!" He takes out his laser rifle and blasts everything in the treetops.

Batman jumps from his perch and uses his grappling hook gun to latch onto one of the other branches. As he swings, he takes out another gun and shoots it at Pogue. Two pieces of wires come out and their ends stick on to the soldier. An electrical surge paralyzes his entire body but, somehow, it wasn't enough to knock him out. Batman is surprised and as he swings nearer, he realizes he has got to think of something fast.

Pogue readies himself to catch Batman in midair. Before he could grab him in his arms, his eyes are met by chalk dust. This gives Batman all the chances he needs to land some punches on Pogue. With his enhanced strength, he punches him into submission only to stop when he felt he's being aimed at.

"Uh, you wouldn't dare risk hitting your friend, would you?" Batman asks Lukic.

"You don't know me and I can't miss at this range," Lukic said.

"You're bluffing!"

"I never bluff!"

Batman clenches his teeth and braces for the impact of the slugs on his body. One hits him on his left shoulder, another across his chest, another near his heart and one more to the solar plexus. His suit protects him from the bullets but the impacts hurt every bit. Pogue wasn't hit though but it was clear to him their leader didn't care. _Ungh! He's not bluffing after all._

Strathmore is excited to get another chance and grabs his portable TOW missile launcher. He positions himself beside Lukic who's still shooting. "Say your prayers freak!"

Lukic is wide-eyed at what he's about to do and knocks his aim off. "No!"

The missile is launched into the air and veers all over, steering up, down, left, right and eventually heads straight toward the plant entity. It exploded on impact. Everyone looks to the direction of the explosion. The sudden calm was followed by rumblings. The plant pod reveals gigantic creepers were all over the place. Their movements are causing an earthquake.

Lukic was still hoping to get another shot at the Batman when one of the pod's root systems unearthed itself and displaced everyone in its vicinity.

***

Ms. Covarrubias was stepping out of the Hotel Rio when the earthquake hit. She went for the nearest post to hold on to. Car drivers had to steady their vehicles when the shakings veered them off course. Everyone stopped moving as they let the quake pass. As the people held on, they prayed they be saved from this moment of God's judgment or at least they go to heaven. The quake lasted several minutes and finally stopped.

Everyone is still dazed and confused at the morning's event. Yolanda silently wishes that she should have sent a proxy to come in her stead. She has always been afraid of so many things. The fear of failure, the fear of losing her job, the fear of losing everything she has, and now the fear of losing her life. What risk must she take now to see this through? She is about to start crying when she heard her name being called. "Ms. Covarrubias, Ma'am!"

It was Juliet, her secretary. She is crying, obviously shaken by what happened. Yolanda reflected on what she was about to do just a moment ago. _Now is not the time to be weak, I must be strong!_

Juliet is shaking terribly, "T-tr-truck almost *sob* hit us… Oh, God… *sniff*"

That was all Yolanda needed to hear. She takes a look at Juliet if the woman was injured in anyway. "Are you hurt? Any injuries?" to which Juliet responded by nodding no. "Pull yourself together! Where's the car and is Miguel hurt?" Miguel is the driver of their company car.

"No… he's alright. Car is stuck in traffic."

That was breath of relief but now where is her employer? They were supposed to meet in the lobby until she got impatient and decided to go out for a quick smoke when the earthquake hit. Yolanda and Juliet went back in to the hotel and asked the desk clerk if Bruce Wayne had checked in last night. Fortunately, the hotel computer is still online. The earthquake didn't affect electrical supply in the city.

"No, I'm sorry. Mr. Wayne did not check in last night," the clerk said.

So what does that suppose to mean? That Wayne stayed at the warehouse all night long? He is turning out to be one of those rich people who hate to lose their property and would do anything to retrieve them. She already knew it from the start. The extra special requests, transport of hardware she hardly knew about, Diez, and a warehouse for his "base of operations". She just didn't want to admit it to herself that she got into something really deep. _I feel a headache coming._

Yolanda regains her composure and made her decision. "All right, the accidents have caused a massive traffic jam. We can't get the warehouse by car then we'll just have to get there by foot. I need to talk to Wayne." She takes off her high-heeled shoes.

"B-but Ms. Covar-r-rubias," Juliet stammered, "th-that must be two hundred kilometers away!"

"We didn't exactly prepare a helicopter or hovercraft for this occasion. Come on, the local airport is much nearer. Maybe we can hitch a ride."

Juliet has no choice but to follow her boss.

***

Terry opens one of his eyes. He realizes he's lying down in some kind of ditch. He doesn't know how long he must have been unconscious. As he gets up, he feels a flash of pain across his torso. They must be bruises from the slugs. The pain is not enough to debilitate him but he'll feel it every time he moves.

After getting up, he assesses his situation. Many trees have been upturned and felled by what looks like massive trunk-like roots extending from the plant pod to many miles away. There is no telling how big the thing is. Also, the dirt from meters below the top soil has been unearthed and strewn about. Birds, insects, monkeys and other small animals scurry from their hiding places.

_Man, this is terrible. What a mess… we made._

We. Terry wonders if the Special Forces soldiers made it too as he did. In any case, he can't imagine them teaming up with him any time. He checks his battery pack located in his utility belt. It has a crack and is giving out blue sparks. A feeling of regret wells up inside of him. He checks his on-eye monitor and, yes, the power the battery provides is rapidly dropping. Soon, he won't be able to utilize his suit's powers. No more strength booster, no more infrared, no more invisibility, no more flying. A check of the rest of his utility belt reveals little else. He has used up a lot of his gadgets in his last battle. He still has a couple of batarangs and a bola. And they've got guns and grenades. _I'm in big trouble._

He checks out if his COM link with Bruce is still working. "Big Daddy Bat, do you read me, over?" Now, thinking about it, Terry thought their call signs sounded rather silly and stupid.

There's a loud crackle and he can hear Bruce's voice but he can't make out what he's saying. "I can't copy what you're saying, please repeat."

"Ohhh, it looks like the little bat can't call his daddy." That voice. It was Pogue again. The whole team somehow did survive and they have him surrounded.

Terry is angry that they were able to sneak up on him. He takes out two batarangs, one in each hand, arms across chest, and ready to throw. "Don't be stupid, son. You're outgunned and outnumbered," Lukic said. He was right.

As Terry slowly relented and surrendered, another voice boomed, it was woman's. "No. YOU'RE outgunned and outnumbered." Everyone turned around and found themselves surrounded by Brazilian rangers. All of them are under Poison Ivy's thrall.

This is the first time Terry lays his eyes on Poison Ivy. She looked pretty young and beautiful for someone who should be about Bruce's age. She and the rangers looked rather disheveled. Apparently, they, too, were shaken up by what happened earlier.

Lukic's team had no choice. They surrendered. Terry followed suit.

Poison Ivy gave off an evil smile and said, "So, the United States finally thought it wise to send its own soldiers after me. And who's this? Why, it's Batman's protégé. The rumors were true after all." Then her eyes went slinky like that of someone who is crossed. "I know what you're all thinking and I have but this to tell you. You're not evicting me!"


	6. LEVEL 05

** LEVEL 05**

_The same thoughts kept pouring in Pam's head. This can't be happening. She looked at her former residence and the demolition crew standing by. She and her mother had since moved to another place across town yet she still comes back here to tend the garden. She tried to save as many of the little plants as she could but if her mother ever found out, no amount of explanation would stop her anger._

_The whole block was being demolished in place of some big hill property, supposedly a new mansion or a super department store. She could have rallied up a cause to save the neighborhood. It would have been the perfect scenario. Poor residents with nowhere to go versus evil corporate land developer. But Pam never got any near any plan to fight. Her mother is cynical and so were the rest of her former neighbors. In short, she gave up easily._

_Now that the building is being demolished, it all seemed so unreal. She watches as the wrecking ball makes its first strike. WHAM! The entire wall of the fourth floor was almost taken off. WHAM! Pieces of the fifth floor start falling off. WHAM! The downspout and roof gutter from the roof drop to the ground. Each strike is like a bullet hitting her head. It wasn't just an emotional reaction, her entire body seizes up too. By the fifth and sixth impacts, sections of the roof are starting to give in and some of the flower pots fell. The moment the first spot touched the ground and shattered, she couldn't take it anymore._

_She shook her head, unable to hide her emotions, she ran towards the pot. "NNnnnoooooo!!!!" She made her way through the crew with amazing speed. Her quickness and small size made her difficult to catch. _

_She was almost there, just moments away when somebody finally managed to grab her before the debris fell on her. "What's wrong with you, kid? Are you stupid or somethin'?" The tulip or whatever it was is now buried under the debris. All she could do now is cry._

_"What's going on here? Why'd you all stop? I'm not paying you all to do nothing!" a harsh voice came from a man making his way through. He looked clean and slick in his black business suit. He looked like a thirty something and rather handsome. "What the…? Who's this kid?"_

_"I dunno, sir," the foreman said, "She just came running in and screaming and just heading straight to the building. Maybe she's got a death wish?"_

_"Dammit! I can't afford publicity like this. They'll eat me alive if they hear about it," the man paused for a moment, "Get her into my car before somebody sees her."_

_One of the younger workers with a concerned look said to him, "Umm, sir? Shouldn't we bring her to a doctor? She might have a concussion."_

_"I-I'll take care of her," the man turned to the foreman, "And you. You better make sure that nobody makes mention of what happened. Remember, it's your job on the line here, understood?"_

_"Y-y-yes, sir," the foreman nervously replied._

_Everything seems like a haze to Pam right now. Things were happening too fast. She was taken from the dirt to the hands of men and finally lying in the backseat of a… a black limo. The limo looked familiar. Could it have been? It was something to note but not something to care about right now. Her eyes slowly gazed around the interior. Only then did she notice that there's a woman sitting in the seat facing opposite hers. The thick glasses, the ponytail, that posture, it's the lady who was with the movers. Hardly that someone she would want to talk to._

_"Oh, God, it's you again," the woman said._

_Pam resented that remark. It made her feel like a piece of trash, a dreg of society. What can she say back to her? It was somewhat true. She just buried her face in her hands and continued crying._

_The limo continued plying through Gotham's busy streets until it went into the parking area of one big building and finally stopped there. Pam got up and only then did she realize she must have fallen asleep. Still trying to comprehend her situation, she can feel someone tugging at her jacket. "Come on, kid. Let's go!" the woman said to her. When Pam was moving too slowly, she got impatient and pulled her arm._

_"Ow! You're hurting me!"_

_The woman pulled her all the way to the elevator where they got in. Pam didn't realize what floor they stopped at. It must have been the thirtieth as it took a long time to get up. She gazed at the woman's face. Her eyes were partially closed and there's a tremble in her face. Maybe she felt guilty for treating her like this? Pam was feeling rather angry and thought this spinster deserved the guilt trip._

_They enter a room that looks like a cross between an elegant hotel suite and a personal office. There was a big office desk in the middle and what must be a drinking bar in her right side. Though she couldn't see them, she would wage that there's a bathroom and changing room too. And to think that what must be below are offices and clerks working. It's like having your own empire in a building._

_"Kid, I want you to sit there and don't touch anything until I get back," the woman tells her and points to the chair in front of the huge desk. Pam did as she was told. She noticed the name plate sitting on the desk. It said Walter Donner._

_Nearly thirty minutes passed before the bossy man from the demolition came. He looked very angry. Pam looked at him and he scared her. She turns her gaze back to the desk in front of her. What was she doing in a place like this?_

_"Was she hurt? Did anyone else see her? Are you sure you weren't followed?" he asked the woman._

_"I've made sure and no other employees in the parking area were there. What are we going to do about her, Walter?"_

_"Dammit! Don't use my name in front of her!"_

_Pam was miffed, "Hey! I may be a kid but I'm not stupid. Your name's Walter Donner and I don't have to do any investigating. Your desk's nameplate said it."_

_"Spunky kid! What the hell were you doing at the building?" he talked back._

_"I- I was trying to save Grandma Belle's garden…"_

_Donner bowed his head down and elicited a chuckle, "Ah, my mother's precious garden. She was so short-sighted. She could never see the big picture."_

_Pam could not believe what she was hearing. Grandma Belle was his mother and yet it seems he has no love for her. "H-how… how could you say that? S-s-she was a kind woman. And when she was sick, you didn't even visit her!"_

_"Kid, you have no idea how long I have waited. Waited to finally get the rights to that place."_

_"I-I don't know what you're talking about but I think I d-deserve to know. Sh-she's my friend."_

_Donner eyed her with a hesitating look. Maybe he's deciding whether to tell her what is the story? "You're too little to understand."_

_"Oh, yeah? Try me," she said. Pam can't believe she just said that. Is she becoming more daring? Does she have any chance to change this man even if he's already destroyed the garden?_

_"I know what you're thinking. You think that if I tell you everything about my past, you might find a way to change me. Well, kid, you're wrong! I am not that kind of person!" he said so with a big sneer._

_"NNnnooo!!! You're wrong! Somewhere deep inside of you is a decent person and you know what you're doing is wrong!" Pam can't believe she said that._

_He takes one deep long look at her and with an annoyed look, he said with an angry tone, "Kid, you don't even have any idea what you're defending or the nature of the affair. You don't know what happened between me and my mother. You don't know how hard I tried to make my dreams come true or how she tried to stop them. You don't know how far I had to go to get here, how much I had to do just to get what is rightfully mine! You have no idea!"_

_Now, Pam is shaken by this event. Here is a man who would be a caricature of filthy rich men. Despicable to the bone, seemingly without redeeming value and, yet, he was absolutely right. She has no idea of the nature of the Donners' relationship and what right had she to tell him? What right?_

_Tears start rolling down her cheeks. Donner is clearly not in the mood and rather than look at her, he faces the Gotham cityscape that one can see through his large windows. Through gritted teeth, he said, "Amanda, I want you to give her fifty thousand dollars," addressing the woman in the room, "Kid, I want you to stop crying and take the money. Don't ever tell anyone we had this conversation or even tell anyone what you think you know. Take it and just go."_

_"Wh-what? You think you can just give me money and pretend nothing happened?!"_

_Donner gives out a loud sigh and then turns around and grabs her around her jacket's collars. "Listen! I'm giving you the chance to go with your life intact! You don't take it, fine then. A little conscience has never bothered me. Understand? It's a dog eat dog world out there… and in here. The strong tread over the weak. Do you really want me to say it out loud?" Pam is simply frozen. "I thought so."_

_Later, Amanda escorted Pam out of the building. Amanda's movements were a bit erratic. Obviously, she is in a wonder as to what a kid would do with fifty thousand dollars and what she's supposed to do with it. Pam didn't care. Her own life had been threatened and she's only a powerless child. Only a powerless child._

_The day is almost over when she got back to the place that used to be her former apartment building, all that was left is a rubble. The plants that were on the rooftop garden was strewn about like common garbage. It was the one place that gave her peace in the world, now it's gone. She picks up a broken flower pot. She dusted it off and finds a little bud that would have flowered. She closes her eyes and knows what she must do._

***

"They think they could do anything they want. They thought they could buy their way out of trouble. They didn't think Poison Ivy would come for them."

Batman was actually just regaining consciousness when he heard her words. What was she talking about? And more importantly, why was he asleep? He didn't remember being hit unconscious. And then he found out his hands were bound. He is tied to a post which is actually one of the roots of the massive plant pod. Maybe he was gassed so he wouldn't put up a fight when they tied his hands?

Poison Ivy turned around to face him. He feels being aroused as she strokes her fingertips about his body. In a lusty voice, she said to him, "So, you're the new Batman. Was I anything you were expecting, hmm?"

"Actually, I wasn't thinking about you the entire time." He's somewhat amused at his own answer for telling a truth. 

"Hmmph! You're just like your mentor, trying to sound macho all the time."

"W-ell, we could cut to the chase and you can tell me what it is that you're doing here."

Ivy releases a laugh. "Why, the same thing you think you've come here to do! Save the world! You see, this pod will replenish the Amazon. It will release spores that will quickly grow to trees. They will spread out and reclaim all deforested areas."

"Yeah? What kind of trees will they grow into? I'd say this is an entirely new life form that you've built here. You don't know what kind of offspring it will produce."

"You're just like your mentor, you think you're right and everyone else is wrong. This thing is a product of my own genetic design. They will grow into the new trees of the Amazon. There won't be an ecological disaster. I've already tried it out."

"Uh huh, you did?"

"A small island in the Pacific is the first test site. The new trees quickly outgrew and multiplied faster than the indigenous plants. In a matter of days, the local plant life died out to give way to the new ones. The forest will no longer adapt to civilization. We'll go back to the way it should be, civilization will adapt to the forest!"

Batman gives out a scowl. "He was right. You are crazy!"

"Did anyone ever tell you that you look sexy when you're angry?"

"You do know you're going against everything you have ever believed in?"

"Oh, not quite. The rule of nature is everything must be used over and over again. Animals eat from the plants, other animals eat them, they die, their dead bodies fertilize the soil, seeds make use of the fertilized soil and they become plants. And then the cycle is repeated again. The new trees include genetic strains of those in the Amazon so I'm not replacing anything really," Poison Ivy gave a coy smile.

"That's not an excuse," Batman said.

She gives out a sigh, "I don't really have much time. I'm not getting any younger you know."

"Oh? Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? You sure don't look like a day over thirty."

"Herbs and extracts may make me look young but even they can't stop the clock. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do than debate with you all day." And at that, she leaves him to ponder his fate.

***

Gotham City.

Mary McGinnis makes a call to the hotel Terry was supposed to be staying in. It took a while but the clerk was finally able to connect her. An image of her son flickers up on the vid screen. He looks fine and unhurt. She gave out a sigh of relief.

"Terry, I just heard on the news about the earthquake. Are you all right?" she asked him.

"Oh, don't worry, Mom," he replied, "I saw it on the news, too. But, we're too far away to be affected by it. As you can see, I'm getting ready to hit the beach and it sure looks like everybody's got the same idea." He points out to the crowd beachgoers that can be seen through his suite's patio.

"Well, you can't blame a mother for worrying. You and Matt are all I have."

"Yes, don't worry, I can take care of myself. Look, I have got to get going. Goodbye. I love you," and then he went offline.

She's glad that Terry's okay but wished she could have told him to come home sooner. _Sigh_.

***

Bruce continues to look at the monitor screen. He is rubbing his chin with his right hand. He got off the videophone as soon as he could. She might get suspicious. He remembers a time when all someone had to do to fool the person on the other end of the line is to disguise your voice. Now, they have video phones and you have to come up with a way to fool the other person with fake computer images. Anyway, there's a more pressing matter, that of Terry's safety.

"So, what now, boss?" asked Raffy.

Yes, what now? A moment of pause and Bruce finally speaks, "We give him two hours."

"And then what?"

"And then I'm going in myself."

"What? If you want done something right, you have to do it yourself?" It was a woman's voice from the warehouse's small door.

"Ah, Miss Covarrubias. I am going to require your assistance," Bruce said.

"And you're not going to get it until you give me an explanation," she said back.

"Alright. I'm in a position where I know who the enemies are and my team is the only one who could do something about it," Bruce said with a straight grim face. No winks, no twitching.

For a moment she thought about doubting him but… _Huh! I guess he's not kidding!_

"Who are you?" was all she could say.

Raffy piped up. "He's the lord of the darkness. He knows what you're thinking. He…"

"Stop it, Raffy," Bruce told him. And then he continued, "Satellite images indicate small convoy of jeeps came from the task force's camp. They're head this way. I will need you to play along with me."

_He's not asking me, he's telling me to help him? What kind of nerve…?_ "Why should I help you?" she said in whispering gasp of disbelief. Bruce didn't answer her. He just stared back at her with that stern face of his. The arrogance of this man is astounding.

***

It was Col. Paez coming. His jeep stopped just by the warehouse's door. As he stepped off the vehicle, the warehouse's occupants came out of the door. He wonders if they were already expecting him. Bruce Wayne was the first to greet him.

"Good morning, Colonel," Bruce said, "What is the current status of the hostages?"

Paez went straight to the point, "Ha! You can't fool me, Wayne. I know you had something to do with that thing last night. You couldn't stand our ineptness and decided to send in your own man, didn't you?"

"Ah, the direct approach," Bruce smirked, "Perhaps you would like to step in to my command center?"

Paez could see that Covarrubias and her secretary looked surprised when Bruce invited him in. _Hnn, just what is going on here?_

They all went inside. The Brazilian soldiers were all impressed by the computers, the large monitor screen and whatever gadget that is lying about. All except Paez. He keeps showing his grumpiness, just a way to show Wayne how much he dislikes being used or manipulated. But, he admitted to himself, all these equipments are really something.

"Colonel, I do admit I had something to do with that flying thing last night," Bruce said to him, "But I didn't do it to show up everyone, I did it because I have complete distrust to one man's motives for being here." He can see the colonel's brows crease from being puzzled. "Oh, I assure you that it isn't you."

"Oh, of course not," Paez replied, "Go on, continue."

***

His suit's strength booster is gone, he suffered a few injuries and his utility belt was taken from him but Batman is far from being completely helpless. His glove fingers extended into claws and he begins cutting through his bonds. The two guards' backs were turned to him and so it was with great ease to sneak up on them and knock them unconscious. He winced as he did this, the bruises on his ribs suffered in his last battle. Afterwards, he stripped one of the guards to his shorts and he put on the uniform for disguise. He still had his mask on though so he put on a cap to cover his mask's ears.

The entrance to his holding cell was actually a hole on the trunk of the giant pod. Vines the size of tree trunks floating about were the only means of being transported from one part of the pod to another. He has no way of controlling them. He would have to take the chance of jumping from vine to vine to get to the bottom. And he has to do this without a jet pack.

He walks back in his cell and ran toward the entrance, only stopping for a moment when his initial steps hurt his ribs. There is no choice, he must continue. The momentum he gained carries him forward to the first vine. He manages to get a step in but the momentum is still pushing him. He has no choice but to move to, hopefully, another vine that would be in his way.

Another vine is floating by. He goes for it but he falls short of a foothold. He is able to grab onto it. His claws dig in and he barely holds on. Just lucky enough to avoid going into a spasm, all that movement was sending pain throughout his body. As he holds on, he manages to catch a glimpse through a bold spot on the forest canopy of where the special force's gears were kept. His utility belt has to be there.

Finally, he works his way down to the bottom. A guard would have stopped him but he seems enthralled, no doubt, by Poison Ivy's pheromones. _This is a cinch,_ Batman thought.

He reaches the spot where the equipments were held. Batman rummages through and finally finds his utility belt. He examines just how bad his battery is shot. Perhaps he could find a replacement in the Special Forces' backpacks. Excited by this thought, he continues rummaging through. Their radio man must have some.

Instead, he finds what appears to be some kind of high-frequency emitting instrument, some kind of speaker system. It is the kind that gives out sounds at ultra-high frequency. Not exactly something you use to transmit radio signals. _Just exactly what is going on here?_

Before he could examine it further, somebody hits him on the head. Not again! And he is quickly losing his consciousness but not before he could hear someone's voice. "Heh! I guess he thought the Bat thought he's the only one who's capable of escaping." It sounded like Pogue's voice, "Should we kill him?"

_NNNnnnnoooo…_


	7. LEVEL 06

LEVEL 06 

_Raindrops fall hard all over her body. Nobody said anything about heavy rains, especially not this time of year. She should have known better from the plants she was going to study. They grow only in the rainforest of Brazil. Of course there are going to be rains, she just didn't think it was going to be heavy._

_She trudges along a makeshift path, with only a few local tribesmen as her only companions. The route is stony and muddy. Very muddy. And she could feel pinches on her soles just before and between her toes. Blisters, they have to be blisters. When she looked at her fingers, they look so wrinkled and soggy. Her feet must be the same too. What of her body? Her backpack is full of many things, quite a lot she regrets bringing along. She never expected the way to the camp would be so… What was the word? Arduous._

_ She feels very tired. She is counting all the sore points over her body. A hot bath and hours of sleep would be so good now. All her suffering, all the aches she is suffering, none of the men seem bothered by these same troubles. What are they made of? How much farther?_

_"How much farther?" she cried out asking._

_"Not very far, Miss," replied the lead guide, a somewhat short man in his late thirties._

_"Umm, I think I asked you the same question for the past three days?" she said back. There is no note of sarcasm in her voice; nevertheless, her message is clear._

_He could only laugh back at what she said. Still smiling, he said, "Don't worry, Miss. This time, we really there. Don't worry."_

_"Uh, yeah," she said, dejected. When she took this assignment for Dr. Woodrue, she was actually hoping to be on some sort of adventure. An exotic faraway land, not a soggy sludge pit. She tries to shake away this thinking. She's training to be a botanist, she should get used to these kind of conditions in her chosen line of work._

_Suddenly, her line of thought is broken. Her foot didn't get a proper step and she slipped. It really hurt. Getting up was difficult. Her backpack is already drenched from the rain, making it heavier. She couldn't brace herself up because the ground is slippery. Oh, dignity._

_"I-I don't think I can go on," she said. Exhaustion has finally come in._

_"Yes you can. The camp is right in front of us."_

_"It is?" she asked weakly. And there it was, the camp they have been trying to reach for days. It has to be. She is ready to crawl in a bed and die. She closed her eyes._

_"Oh, come on. You can't possibly give up now. Is this your first time to go on a trip like this?" a handsome voice said and it does not belong to the lead guide. Well, they had to raise their voices in this rain but his voice was beautiful even though he had to speak louder._

_She opened her eyes and there he was. Four years in Gotham University and she finds Mr. Right thousands of miles away. And to think that she thought all she was going to get in this assignment was a few brownie points with her professor. Since the moment she took a step on this journey, she gave out a smile and passed out._

_Later, she wakes up and finds out she was taken in to the main cabin reserved for the researchers. It was very quiet with only the chirping of birds breaking the silence. She thanks God for stopping the rain. She takes in a deep breath and exhaled just as much, a release for the stress._

_"Oh, you're awake. I was beginning to wonder when you'd be around," a man's voice said. It shook her up and she could scold herself for not even realizing there's a man in the room with her. Wincing from embarrassment, she takes a look at her guardian. A man. A very handsome man. This must certainly be heaven._

_"I didn't realize you were in here with me," she said, "My name's---."_

_"Pamela Isley," he quickly said, "They, uh, already told me who's coming." He pours a cup of coffee and hands her one. "Want some? Looks like you could use it. The name's Thomas Baxter, by the way."_

_"Wow," she just randomly said out loud._

_"Wow what?"_

_Her face turned really red. How could she have just said it for the world to hear? She could die if she embarrasses herself one more time. Apparently, he noticed it, too, and quickly changed the subject. "There's a shower stall on the other side of the camp, opposite this cabin. Uh, just in case you need to clean yourself up."_

_"Thank you," she meekly said._

_He smiled and she smiled back. Pam now wonders what an adventure this is going to be._

***

They were all sitting around a table. Bruce, Yolanda, Raffy and Paez. Bruce has the ball.

"He called himself the Floronic Man. His mission was the complete domination of Earth by plant life. He first struck in the farmlands of Kansas. He was protesting the exploitation of plants for human consumption."

"That's crazy," remarked Yolanda.

"I see no difference with what we have today, but, as I was saying, he terrorized Kansas farms in the name of his campaign. The Justice League was called in to stop him. Make no mistake, he may be just a man mutated into a plant monster but he was still a scientist and he knew how to hold his ground against… the League."

"The situation had become worse and it was deemed that military intervention was a necessity. This the call from the man we know as Pebblewyrm."

Bruce pauses and he scans everyone's reactions. All mouths were agape. Indeed, they were surprised at the revelation. The first one to recover from the shock was Col. Paez, "So, I guess you two had met before then, ha?"

"I owned some properties in Kansas. It was inevitable."

***

Dr. Jason Woodrue, the Floronic Man, had held the Justice League at bay. He managed to poison Superman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman with some form of spores. The Flash was entirely tangled up with his vines. Only J'onn and Hawkgirl were left to keep his wildly growing grain plants from taking over the town of Smallville.

Near the outskirts of Smallville, an Army encampment had been set up. Long range cannons were arranged to counter the threat incendiary bombs. They would have been effective if only someone was actually going to use them. This fact did not escape the Batman, who decided to conduct his own investigation.

This was not the first time that any of the League members had encountered Woodrue before. He was put away in Stryker's Island, a maximum security prison island built especially for superpowered criminals. Somehow, he had managed to escape.

Batman flew in with his Batwing plane to Stryker's Island to talk with the warden. Prison security quickly surrounded him. Red laser dots were all over his body. He looked at his surroundings and only gritted his teeth and grunted.

Immediately, the alarm is turned off and the warden quickly called his men to stand down. With a squadron behind him, he ran to greet Batman. He sweated quite profusely, even for a man with his beefy build. He wiped his brow with his handkerchief. Batman said, "I could distinctly remember calling your office prior to my arrival."

With a worried tone in his voice, the warden replied, "I'm sorry. Ever since the escape, the whole complex is jittery with any repeat attempts." He added, "And, you don't usually show up like this."

Batman just gave an expressionless smirk. "I would like to know how exactly Woodrue escaped."

They entered Woodrue's former cell. It is a small 10x10. There are no bathroom utilities nor is there a bed. A section of the wall is torn and the entrance had its door, obviously, ripped apart.

"The walls are made of fluorescent light material that could change into any color. Woodrue has the ability to mutate any seedling, spore and the like into whatever he wants. Even with a scanner we use to detect any foreign material he might have with him in his cell, we still manually check his cell with our own eyes. The walls change color so we could contrast it with the color of any foreign object."

"And the door is airtight when it closes?" Batman asked.

"Well, yes."

"And he's still been able to bond with plant material and mutate."

"It's impossible. We sterilize everything before they go in to this cell. Besides, no one was going in when he busted out."

"If this room is airtight, how does he breathe?"

It was a question that caught the warden off guard but seems to have regained his composure. "There's still a ventilation system but I swear the air is also filtered for any foreign objects."

Batman touches the only air vent in the cell. His eyes take an intense look at it. "The reports said that the bioscan alarm still sounded. Something still came in."

They all proceeded to the ventilation's filtration system. He could hear murmurs from the guards about his pushing his way through. They definitely don't like him. Regardless, it doesn't bother him one bit. He hunches over the filtration unit and took out one of his dust sprays and shoot out a stream. The cloud is being pushed away by air coming out of a hole unseen. It confirms his suspicion. Somebody helped Woodrue out.

"Who's in charge of maintenance?" he asked.

"Thomson," replied the warden. He pointed to a small man with glasses and freckles.

Batman walks toward the little man. He gives that look in his eyes. The look that he doesn't have any patience left and he would like it over with and the answers dished out now. He gives his question, "Are you the only one solely responsible for this unit's maintenance?"

Thomson is easily intimidated, "They said no one would get hurt. I do this, he escapes, I get paid."

The warden is furious, "What? Are benefits here not up to your standard?"

Batman asks one more question, "How did you get paid?"

Cash. Old bills but still usable. It would be difficult to trace from whom it came from now. Besides, his visit was almost a complete waste. Almost. At least he's sure somebody has an interest in Woodrue. He leaves Stryker's Island with this information. Information obtained partially with blackmail. The warden. It wasn't something he normally does but he needed to get it with little hassle.

One thing is for certain, Maj. Pebblewyrm is the man in charge of the task force ordered to stop Woodrue. If there's one person who could answer all his questions, ask the man in charge. He quickly flies back to Kansas and sneak his way to the army camp.

He had previously observed earlier in the day, a truck that was parked separately from the rest of the munitions trucks. There were only three soldiers guarding that area. All three were easily taken care of with sleeping drug-tipped darts. The trailer's lock was also a simple matter. Batman enters the trailer. The sounds of chirping were all around him.

In the Army command center, Maj. Pebblewyrm is overseeing how far the mutant plants have grown. If one could see behind his thick moustache, there would be a big smirk of satisfaction on his face. An emotion of victory he quickly shares with his fellow officers. "Gentlemen, by 0700 hours tomorrow, we will show those metahuman show-offs who are the masters of the world."

A thud sound on the war table surprised everyone. A grasshopper was lying there. The lights went out, leaving only the emergency lights on. "And a plague of locusts descended upon them," a dark voice said. Smoke bombs blew up everywhere and crashing down on the war table was the Batman with a gas mask on.

"You certainly know how to make an entrance, don't you?" the major said.

"I know what you're planning to do," Batman tells him, "I won't let you get away with it."

"Phah! You can't stop us. My men will have the command center surrounded. You don't scare me. I spent my whole life staring down the likes of you," the major said with defiance.

"You don't know me that well."

"I'm calling your bluff. Besides, the operation will proceed no matter what happens here."

BAM! Something shook up the command center. Everyone becomes more worried. All except Pebblewyrm who is trying to look tough and maintain a poker face. That didn't last long as somebody tore through the wall. Everybody fire their weapons in the direction of the tearing but bullets bounce off him. Superman. "How…?" was all Pebblewyrm could utter.

Batman tells him off, "You didn't think I came all alone did you?"

J'onn phases through the wall and renders a couple of the soldiers unconscious. His eyes glow red in the darkness but one does not need to know how more than displeased he is. "How dare you toy with people's lives? All for the sake of approving your secret weapon."

"We know what those locusts are doing in that truck," interjected Batman, "They're genetically modified to be voracious eaters. So voracious they'll eat through Woodrue's forces in moments. I can see what a perfect weapon it is against America's enemies, just let them starve and surrender."

Pebblewyrm bit his lip. His motivations were all made clear. There was just more question. "How did you figure it all out?"

"Not much. Before I got here, I checked up on your background and found some shady dealings in your young career. It didn't take long before I found the connections in this current project of yours. Does a certain entomologist by the name of Woodward Blake ring a bell to you?"

By this point, Pebblewyrm has lost his cool. The lights may have went out but the computers run on a different power line. He presses the button that would release the swarm but the monitor indicates they are still intact in their cages. "Nnnoooo!!!"

"Give it up, Major," Superman tells him, "It's all over."

"Fools! I still have my back-up!" Pebblewyrm screamed. He takes out some kind of remote switch and he presses the button from there. Batman threw a batarang at his hand and he dropped the device but it was too late. Whatever he planned, it was already set in motion.

Superman stepped on the remote control. It instantly shattered to pieces. He grabbed Pebblewyrm by the collars. There is great fury in him. His hometown is in danger and this man sealed its fate. His eyes are turning red and glowed. "What have you done, you maniac?!"

"Put him down, Superman. We'll take it from here," someone with the voice of a statesman spoke. His uniform and badges indicate he's a general. He is accompanied by several MPs. "This man has acted without our knowledge or authority."

Superman is clearly annoyed, "Oh, how so convenient! I can't believe this! An operation this big and you didn't know?!"

J'onn places his hand over his friend's shoulder. "Let him go, Superman. We have a more urgent matter to attend to."

"You're right." Superman loosened his grip. The MPs took Pebblewyrm. The Major is also angry. Angry at Batman. He continued staring at the Dark Knight Detective as he is led out of the command center. Superman regains his composure and grumblingly said, "Alright, let's assess the damage."

Morning. It was terrible. Woodrue and his plant forces never stood a chance. The locust swarm consumed everything in its path, the land now a wasteland. Nothing was spared, not even Woodrue. All that remained of him is a skeleton hanging on the empty corn stalks, a horrid scarecrow.

With Woodrue out of the way and Pebblewyrm off their back, the Justice League regrouped. Green Lantern and Wonder Woman are still being treated for spore poisoning. The Flash made sure there was no more Kryptonite hidden among the fields. It was what weakened Superman that enabled the spores to affect even him. Now that the League is in fighting form once again, the question is what do they do?

"Bathe them in insecticide?" the Flash asked.

J'onn tells him, "They have an immunity to the poison."

"We could swat them one by one," the Flash piped up.

"You're kidding!" Superman tells him, "Why don't we just firebomb them?" A sudden second thought rushed into his mind on what he just proposed. Too late, he's said it anyway. But somehow, any idea is better than nothing.

"That's not reassuring enough. We have to get them all in one place," said Hawkgirl, "Even then, some of them may still escape."

"Well? What choice do we have?" Even having said that, it was clear he himself is uncomfortable with such a plan. Kansas was his home. J'onn gives a nod of understanding to him.

"Didn't the general say they were supposed to die after twenty-four hours? We could let the rest just expire," Hawkgirl reasoned back.

Batman makes his announcement. His face grimmer than usual. "I did some checking with Dr. Blake's notes. All tests to control their breeding have failed. Those documents were supposed to have been destroyed. We can just be thankful he has a conscience."

"Oh, just wonderful," Superman said.

"Apparently, Pebblewyrm was running out of time for his little project," Batman continued, "He went for broke as we now see. But we still have a shot at this. According to Blake's notes, he has been experimenting with ultra-high frequency waves in attempts to control the locusts. I'd say it's worth a shot."

"How long do you think you could find the right frequency?"

"It… could take a while."

"How long?"

"A very, very long while."

"Oh."

A long pause passes before the Flash chimed in again, "Hey, I got an idea. Just give me a giant tuning fork and I'll vibrate it through the entire spectrum of frequencies."

J'onn tells him, "We need to keep the swarm all together for the firebomb. The tuner must keep running."

"Relax, will you? Let me worry about that, you take care of the bomb. I'll be fine. They don't call me the Fastest Man Alive!"

"Alright, it's settled then. I'll go tell the general about this," Superman closed the meeting.

The swarm has already consumed most of the crops of the Kansas farms. The Justice League is left with one still rich enough to set as bait. A metal pillar is set in the middle and the Flash is obviously excited to get on with the action. The Batman makes his final adjustments to make sure the frequency is loud enough for the swarm to hear.

"Come on, Bats! What's taking so long?" the Flash asked.

"You can relax," the Batman pauses a moment thinking of what he just said. Now there's a word that neither he nor his teammate is familiar with. How silly but too late of him to say something else. "I'm done."

"About time," the Flash smirks and cracks his knuckles.

"They're coming!" Superman shouted as he flew over Flash and Batman.

Batman is picked up by Superman. He looks back at their scarlet teammate and tells him, "When we give the word, the bombs are coming. And you'd better…"

"I know, I know," the Flash said while motioning his hands in a way that says not to worry. "Relax, will you." He pointed his finger at Batman. He gave out a smirk and winked at him.

Batman just grunted.

"What was that all about?" Superman asked.

"Nothing."

The Flash rubbed his hands together before he placed them around the pillar. At first, he slowly stroked it with his fingers. Then, he moved his hands up and down, faster and faster until they just become a red blur. The speakers set around the pillar start emitting a humming noise which proceeded to become a high pitch noise. The pitch becomes so high it just stops being heard.

He looked up at the swarm but it's still not coming. He started getting worried. He spoke into his comlink, "Umm, I don't think this is working. It looks more like I'm driving them away."

"Keep going. Try every range you can," Batman tells him.

Before long, the swarm is starting to be attracted to the pitch. The locusts start flying around the pillar and surrounding it. They fly and buzz about. Some of them are hitting the Flash. "Ow! I think I finally found it. Ow!"

Overhead, a couple of bomber planes fly at a low altitude. Hawkgirl is flying beside them. "You'd better start running out of there. They're about to start dropping the bombs."

"I can't stop now! If I do, the sound stops and they fly away before we incinerate them."

Hawkgirl grits her teeth and gives out that grunt she makes when she's frustrated. She shouts to him, "Get out of there!" The bombers open their holding bays and the bombs start dropping. "Hey! They're coming at you!"

The bombs were moments from ground zero when the Flash stops what he's doing and sprints away. The explosions start. It consumes everything in its path. The swarm and the wheat crops are incinerated by an ever expanding wall of fire. He looks back for a second just to see how near the wall is coming to him. It wasn't far. He's outrun things faster than it but the corn stalks were getting in his way.

The bombers finish their run and flew away heading back to base. The farmland is now a sea of fire. Hawkgirl is irritated by the heat, smoke and smell. She covers her nose to avoid breathing the fumes. There is no sign of the Flash, not even a peep of sarcastic remark. She panics. "Flash! Flash!"

A crackle from the comlink gives out a familiar sounding voice, "Ah, I knew I'd get you to say my name."

"Grr, you had me worried!"

"Aha! Another admittance!"

"Keep that up and you'll wish you would rather be burned alive!"

Superman looks sadly at the burning farmland. As he scanned the area for any escaping locust, he makes this remark, "What a waste. I'm sure we'll recover in time but still…"

"I know," Batman said rather tightlipped.

"I just want to thank you. If you didn't find about Pebblewyrm's plans…"

"You don't have to. We do what we always do. We do what we have to do. That's it."

Superman nods in agreement and they watched the fires continue to blaze about. Both of them are hoping that the nightmare is really over.

***

"How much we wanted to believe that, but the truth is there were a few infestation outbreaks the next few years," Bruce finishes his story. "My people have traced those swarms to the first outbreak. Of course, the military denied any connection."

"And now you think Pebblewyrm is here to test out his pet project? Here in my country?" Paez asked him.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he ever tried again. We did bump into each other a few times after that incident."

"And…?"

Bruce smirked, "And they'll be stories for another time."

There was one question bugging Yolanda. "Okay, so now that we know the general is hiding something, what do we do now? I mean, we can't just go in and point a finger at him"

Yes, what to do?

***

"Why can't we take his mask off and find out who he is?" Terry is still groggy but that voice definitely sounded like Madrigal.

"I said no. Let him keep it to his grave." Another familiar voice. This time it was Lt. Lukic's. "Look, he's coming round."

His head still hurts but Terry finally managed to regain his senses. And regain them he did. His hands are tied to his back and his feet are bound, too. He's also completely surrounded by the US Special Team. He takes a keen-eyed look at everyone and said, "So which of you clowns thought he was a boy scout?" He surprised everyone he was able to free himself so quickly. He's surprised himself too.

Caulfield looked very annoyed and aims his gun at him. Batman just looked on defiantly. Caulfield was about to pull the trigger when a hand blocked his sight. Lukic.

"Don't even think about it."

"But…"

"You pull that trigger and I will shoot you myself."

Batman is finally back on his feet. "So, what's this? There some rank pulling while I took a nap?"

Lukic faced him. "Look, we have the same objective here. I figure that we could work together. What do you say?" His hand extended for a shake.

"Feels like I'm going to shake hands with the devil."

"Come on. We have the hardware to do the job; you have knowledge of the enemy. We get this mission over with we can go back to hating each other."

The truth was there is very little insight he has on Poison Ivy but he catches Lukic's drift. It was something the other soldiers didn't get quickly. They continue to fight, they get the attention of the brainwashed Brazilians again. Or maybe Lukic is smarter than he thought. Still, does he have any choice?


End file.
